March 24, 2010

Uzbek Doctors Accidentally Infect Nearly 150 Children With HIV

Doctors in Uzbekistan inadvertently infected 147 children with HIV between 2007 and 2008 by using unsterilized medical equipment, Agence France-Presse reports. By January of last year, 14 of those children died of AIDS-related illness.

“The mass outbreak was due to using catheters and syringes many times without sterilization,” Central Asian news website ferghana.ru reported. In addition, it stated, doctors falsified sterilization notifications and destroyed documents.

As a result, 21 medical personnel from Namangan and regional hospitals were sentenced to five to eight years in prison.

Search: HIV/AIDS, children, doctors, hospital, Namangan, Central Asia

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