Using one syringe, Unnao quack infects 38 with HIV

KANPUR/UNNAO: A consultation fee of ₹10 with medicines thrown in was the sales pitch that may have resulted in at least 38 people in Bangarmau town in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district getting infected with HIV, a senior district medical officer said on Tuesday.

Rajendra Yadav, a self-styled doctor with no training in medicine, used the same syringe to treat all his patients, in the process spreading HIV, said Unnao chief medical officer (CMO) Dr SP Chowdhary.

“As of now, he is the one responsible for so many people getting HIV. There can be other reasons but the initial investigation puts the onus on him,” he said.

Yadav used his bike as a mobile clinic that he used to move from village to village.

“He had quite a following in three localities — Premgunj, Kareemuddin Nagar and Chakmeera,” said Dr Chowdhary.

Yadav, who is being sought by the police, is absconding and his mobile phone is switched off.

The locals fear the number of those infected could be higher. While 38 people tested HIV positive in the last week of January, 25 others had tested positive last year, taking the total number to 63. It isn’t clear how many people were treated by Yadav.

Nor is it clear whether so many cases could be spread because of the use of the same syringe (although this is possible in theory).

Three experts from National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) are arriving in Unnao on Wednesday to investigate the cause of the high number of cases and submit a report in three days that should clarify things.

A CONSULTATION FEE OF ₹10 LED PEOPLE TO SEEK TREATMENT FROM RAJENDRA YADAV,

WHO HAD NO FORMAL TRAINING IN MEDICINE