Red Cross Blood Bank booked after 3-yr-old Thalassemia patient tested HIV positive

HYDERABAD: A case has been registered at the Nallakunta Police Station against the Red Cross Blood Bank after a three-year-old boy tested HIV positive following a blood donation from the blood bank.

The boy's father, Bellam Shiva, 27, visited the Nallakunta Police station on Monday and complained of negligence on the part of the blood bank. The Nallakunta Police Station registered an FIR under Section 338 IPC for negligence as a result of the father's complaint.

Shiva, who hails from Rampalli village in Rangareddy district, married in 2017 and the couple has a three-year-old son. However, the boy was born with Thalassemia. He was being transfused blood through the Red Cross Blood Bank for the past two and a half years. However, to the shock of the family, he was recently infected with HIV after receiving a blood donation from the Red Cross Blood Bank, alleges the father.

A scrap godown worker, Bellam Shiva found out about his son's Thalassemia medical condition when he was seven months old. "When my son was seven months old, we visited Niloufer Hospital and learned that our son required blood transfusions on a regular basis," he explained.

"The hospital recommended that we go to the Red Cross Blood Bank for blood transfusions and we have been going there for the past two and a half years. We never had a problem until now, but my son recently tested HIV positive in one of the blood bank's own tests. We were tested twice to confirm the reports, but my son tested HIV positive both times", he lamented.

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He further said: "When I asked the blood bank officials, they showed me a fake report claiming that we had not visited their blood bank in the previous few months, which was a complete lie. It is extremely painful for us that our only son, who already has Thalassemia, is now HIV positive. No child or parent should go through this. Therefore, we decided to file a police report against the blood bank. We demand swift justice."

Nallakunta Sub-Inspector Shiva Shankar told Newstap, "The three-year-old boy with Thalassemia has been receiving blood transfusions from the Red Cross Blood Bank since he was seven-months-old. His father approached us today (Monday), complaining that he had recently been infected with HIV after receiving blood donation from the Red Cross Blood Bank. We inquired with the Red Cross Blood Bank here and they stated that they usually test the blood before accepting blood donations but do not test the blood before giving donations. They claim that it is not due to blood donation and could be due to any other reason. Further investigation is underway ".

"Incidents of this nature happen due to a lack of proper testing before blood donations. It is really important to test the blood before accepting or giving blood donations, especially when it is given to Thalassemia patients," said Bandi Sravan, founder of the Hyderabad Blood Donors Association, which regularly arranges donors for Thalassemia patients.

Whoever is the culprit in the ultimate outcome of the police investigation, the innocent three-year-old is paying a heavy price in the process for no fault of his.