NEW DELHI: As many as 14 children reportedly got infected with Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV after undergoing blood transfusion in India’s northern Uttar Pradesh state.

According to the Hindustan Times newspaper, these kids have thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder that results in abnormal haemoglobin levels.

The report, citing doctors, stated on Monday (Oct 23) that the children could have been infected with various diseases while receiving transfusions at private and district hospitals, and in some cases locally, during urgent cases.

The infections were revealed during a test conducted at Kanpur’s government-run Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital. Currently, 180 thalassemia patients receive blood transfusion at the centre, which screens each of them every six months for any viral diseases. 

Speaking to Hindustan Times newspaper, Arun Arya, the head of the paediatrics department at the Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital in Kanpur, said that seven of these children tested positive for Hepatitis B, five for Hepatitis C and two for HIV. The infected children are aged between 6 and 16.

While it is difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of the infection, Arya said that the blood transfusion may have taken place during the so-called “window period”

According to him, when someone donates blood, it is tested to make sure it is safe for transfusion. However, there is a period of time after someone was infected when the virus could not be detected by the tests, this time span is called “window period”.

This means that during the window period, someone can be very infectious but still test negative for HIV or Hepatitis. Different types of tests have different window periods.

But other doctors at the hospital believe that tests for viruses – meant to be conducted procedurally on donated blood – might have been ineffective, resulting in the infections, the report states.

“At the time of transfusion, the doctors should have [also] vaccinated the children against Hepatitis B,” Arya was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, a senior unnamed official of the Uttar Pradesh National Health told the newspaper that they are tracing the root of the infection.

“District-level officials will trace the root of infection under the Viral Hepatitis Control Programme. The team will look for the place of infection, both for hepatitis and HIV,” the official said.