Jharkhand Health Crisis: 5 Thalassemia Children Test HIV-Positive After Blood Transfusions, Officials Suspended

The Jharkhand government has established a specialized medical team to investigate the concerning incident.

On Sunday, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren ordered the immediate suspension of the West Singhbum district Civil Surgeon and several other officials after five children with thalassemia tested positive for HIV following blood transfusions.

The situation came to light when a family of a seven-year-old thalassemia patient alleged that the Chaibasa blood bank in West Singhbhum district had administered HIV-infected blood. Subsequently, during an investigation conducted by a five-member medical team from Ranchi on Sunday, four additional children were found to be HIV positive.

Chief Minister Soren announced on social media platform X: "Instructions have been given to suspend the civil surgeon of West Singhbhum, along with other concerned officials, following reports of HIV-infected blood transfusion to children suffering from thalassemia in Chaibasa. The state government will provide financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of affected children and will bear the complete treatment cost of the infected children."

After the initial allegation from the seven-year-old child's family, the state government promptly formed a medical investigation team to determine how contaminated blood was administered to the patient.

Officials reported that approximately 25 units of blood had been transfused since the child began visiting the blood bank for treatment.

District Civil Surgeon Dr. Sushanto Majhee had previously stated that the child tested HIV-positive over a week ago. He suggested that HIV infection could potentially result from various factors, including exposure to contaminated needles.

The investigation team, led by Director of Health Services Dr. Dinesh Kumar, inspected the blood bank facilities at Sadar Hospital and the pediatric intensive care unit. They gathered critical information from children currently receiving treatment.

"Initial investigation indicates that contaminated blood was transfused to a thalassemia patient. Some discrepancies were detected in the blood bank during the probe, and the officials concerned have been directed to resolve them," Dr. Kumar stated.

Currently, West Singhbhum district has documented 515 HIV-positive cases and 56 thalassemia patients.

The comprehensive investigation team headed by Dr. Kumar includes several medical experts: Dr. Shipra Das, Dr. S S Paswan, Dr. Bhagat, District Civil Surgeon Dr. Sushanto Majhee, Dr. Shivcharan Hansda, and Dr. Minu Kumari.