Syringe may not account for HIV spread: Officials
UNNAO DISTRICT CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER SAYS THE VILLAGE’S LARGE MIGRATORY POPULATION COULD BE TO BLAME
UNNAO (UP): It’s likely that the selfstyled “doctor” accused of infecting people in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao with HIV with a contaminated syringe may not alone account for the spread of the virus. Migratory population and high-risk behaviour could also be the reason, say officials.
HIV spreads through an infected person’s body fluids, such as blood, semen and breast milk. In India, it spreads primarily through unsafe sex and sharing needles to inject drugs.
“We have registered an FIR against the quack on the basis of what villagers told us, but we cannot overlook the fact that such fast spread of HIV infection over a year isn’t possible entirely due to use of a single infected needed,” said NG Ravi Kumar, district magistrate, Unnao.
The accused, Rajendra Yadav, was arrested on Wednesday from the house of a relative, and has been booked under sections 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease deadly to life) and 308 (culpable homicide) of the IPC and section 15(3) of the Indian Medical Council Act.
The district’s chief medical officer, SP Chowdhary, also says that while the initial investigation suspected the quack, the village’s large migratory population could be to blame.
“The syringe infection theory is doubtful because the virus doesn’t survive in the needle for months, and he was giving intra-muscular shots and not intravenous shots for it to spread the way it has spread. There is a possibility that it is a wrong accusation against the doctor,” he said. Of the 58 positive cases, two young migrant labourers between the ages of 15 and 24 admitted they had paid for sex without protection when they were out for work.
The spurt in cases in Premgunj, Kareemuddin Nagar and Chakmeera first emerged in July last year during a routine screening, when 12 people tested positive from Premgunj. Another 13 tested positive during another round of screening in November in four other villages. In January this year, the state government tested 566 people, of whom 33 returned positive results. Five persons are HIV reactive, which means HIV antibodies were found in their blood.
ACCUSED ARRESTED
Police arrested on Wednesday an untrained, unlicensed self-styled doctor accused of infecting at least 58 people with HIV in Unnao district by allegedly using the same syringe to treat all his patients.
The prime accused, Rajendra Yadav, was arrested from the house of a relative where he was hiding, said Bangarmau SHO Amit Kumar Singh.
Yadav, who would go around local villages on his motorbike to treat patients for as little as ₹10, was arrested after a police tip-off and authorities did not face any resistance at the time of the arrest, Singh added.