Kerala: Child cancer patient suspected to have contracted HIV during blood transfusion dies

ALAPPUZHA: The nine-year-old girl child - the cancer patient from Alappuzha who was earlier admitted to the regional cancer centre in Thiruvananthapuram and was suspected to had contracted HIV during blood transfusion - died at Alappuzha Medical College Hospital Wednesday.
Dr Sreelatha P R, pediatrics department of the MCH, told TOI the girl died of leukemia. "She was admitted to the hospital today (Wednesday) and her condition was very serious.She was detected with leukemia four years ago. Surviving four years is a very rare case," the doctor said.
The family of the nine-year-old had earlier alleged that the girl was infected with HIV after undergoing blood transfusion at the RCC Hospital. The medical college police in Thiruvananthapuram, in September 2017, a registered case and launched a probe after receiving a complaint from the girl's parents in this regard.
However, the Kerala State AIDS Control Society (KSACS), who conducted a probe into the incident, has given a clean chit to the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) authorities and the report of the KSACS said that the blood given to the girl during transfusion at Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) in Thiruvananthapuram was tested before the procedure and HIV was not detected. The report of KSACS also pointed out that RCC was not equipped to detect the virus during the window period - time from infection to a positive result.