Jharkhand Health Dept clears Chaibasa hospital blood bank in HIV transmission case
Chaibasa: Concerns over transfusion safety and blood bank protocols came under scrutiny after a family alleged that a woman contracted HIV following a blood transfusion during a caesarean delivery at Chaibasa Sadar Hospital. However, a Health Department inquiry found that the hospital’s blood bank was not the source of the infection.
West Singhbhum Civil Surgeon Bharti Minj stated that the woman had received blood from two different donors during a Caesarean section, and both donors were subsequently traced and tested as part of the investigation. According to officials, neither donor tested positive for HIV, ruling out transfusion-related transmission from the hospital’s blood bank.
According to The Indian Express, based on these findings, the Health Department concluded that the Chaibasa Sadar Hospital blood bank had no role in the alleged spread of HIV in this particular case. The clarification comes against the backdrop of heightened sensitivity following earlier allegations involving transfusion-linked infections.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that fresh scrutiny gripped Chaibasa Sadar Hospital in West Singhbhum, Jharkhand, after three members of the same family – a woman, her husband, and their elder child – reportedly tested HIV-positive, allegedly following a blood transfusion administered to the woman at the hospital.
The incident reportedly occurred following a woman's cesarean section in January 2023. According to the family, she suffered excessive bleeding during delivery and was administered blood from the hospital’s blood bank. The family has alleged that the transfused blood was infected, which later resulted in the entire family contracting HIV.
The Daily reported that the family’s complaint surfaced months after five children, who were thalassemia patients, tested HIV-positive in October last year, with allegations at the time pointing to blood transfusions sourced from the same hospital’s blood bank. Those cases had triggered a separate investigation into blood safety practices.
Civil Surgeon Minj said the probe into the thalassemia cases has also been completed, and the findings have been forwarded to the Jharkhand State Drugs Directorate. However, the report has not been placed in the public domain.
As per The Indian Express, Ritu Sahay, Director of the Jharkhand State Drugs Directorate, confirmed that the report was submitted to the head of the investigation team led by Health Department Special Secretary Neha Arora, but could not be disclosed publicly.
Arora, who headed a high-level committee that examined the thalassemia cases in Ranchi, had earlier stated that the findings did not indicate anything “very serious.”
While a Central team had also conducted a parallel inquiry into the matter, it has been noted that there has been no official communication from the Centre so far, and its report has not been made public.
The issue has also drawn political attention. The Daily reported that Leader of Opposition Babulal Marandi, in a post on X earlier this month, linked the current allegations to last year’s thalassemia cases, stating that concerns over HIV-infected blood transfusions at Chaibasa Sadar Hospital were not new. He alleged serious negligence, demanded a CBI inquiry into hospital management and blood bank operations, and questioned why the blood bank had not been shut.
