The mass infection has reignited scrutiny over clinic hygiene and reused medical equipment. In Pakistan's port city of Karachi, at least 140 children have recently tested positive for HIV. The cases aren't linked to high-risk adult behavior but to everyday medical care.
This is not the first time Pakistan has seen a surge of HIV infections among kids. And as Betsy Joles reports, it again points to shortcomings in hospital safety. BETSY JOLES, BYLINE: Ayesha Aftab took two of her children to Kulsoom Bai Valika Hospital for what she suspected were symptoms of typhoid or malaria.
She brought along her youngest, Muhammad Rehan. He was soon flushed with fever too. The doctor on duty suggested an antibiotic injection to knock out Rehan's symptoms faster than a pill or syrup.
AYESHA AFTAB: (Non-English language spoken). JOLES: "I thought, OK, the doctor knows better," Aftab says. It was then she noticed that injections were being given to child after child.
JOLES: "For God's sake, you're giving injections to three or four patients from different families," Aftab recalls saying. "Why are you using injections in this way?" Her children later tested positive for HIV. Dozens of other parents who brought their children to Valika Hospital say their kids now have HIV too.
At least six of them have died. Parents accuse hospital staff of spreading the virus by reusing syringes and needles for injections and IV drips. One father, Syed Mehtab Shah, says he watched a nurse retrieve a syringe from inside a trash can.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
