3 out of 259 blood donors in Chaibasa detected to be HIV positive: Health minister

Chaibasa (Jharkhand), Oct 30 (PTI) Three donors of Chaibasa blood bank in West Singhbhum district were detected to be HIV-positive, Jharkhand Health minister Irfan Ansari said on Thursday.

Altogether 259 people had donated blood in Chaibas blood bank between 2023 and 2025, and the administration is trying to contact each donor over the phone, the minister said, after inspecting the blood bank following the detection of five minor thalassemia patients with HIV-positive last week.

Family members of one of the thalassemia patient had accused the blood bank of transfusing HIV-infected blood to him.

"Out of 259 donors, we could contact 44 donors and three of them were found to be HIV-positive following examination. Besides, five members of one donor family were also affected by HIV," the minister said.

"We will be in a position to give exact status only after the completion of the probe, which is likely to take at least four weeks," he said.

Let us first confirm whether the victims have taken blood from the blood bank or elsewhere, he said.

The government has taken the issue very seriously and ordered an audit of each blood bank across the state to find out lacunae, if any, the minister said.

"We will not spare anyone if found guilty. We have now just suspended some erring officials and we will even arrest them, if irregularities are found," the minister said, referring to the suspension of five people, including the District Civil Surgeon, after five thalassemia patients were detected to be HIV positive.

Ansari said the thalassemia patients need blood every fortnight, and they bring donors along with them as the blood group of each patient is different.

It was difficult to confirm immediately that HIV-infection among the children was caused by the blood supplied by the blood bank unless the probe was completed, the minister said.

To a query that some pregnant women were also transfused blood in the blood bank, the minister said an investigation is going on. PTI COR BS RG