At least 21 persons were found to have contracted HIV in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district after a quack allegedly administered injections to them using a common syringe.
A criminal case was filed against the quack, identified as Rajendra Kumar, on Tuesday.
The HIV cases were discovered in two rural areas, Premganj and Chakmirpur, in the Bangermau tehsil during screening camps held by the State Health department.
The officials held three camps in November and December last year, after being alarmed by the high incidence of HIV reported from the district hospital and health camps held in Bangermau by an NGO.
“After we found that a large number of cases were being reported from this area, a screening camp was held, in which 566 persons were examined. Thirty-eight persons were found reactive while 21 were found positive,” Unnao Chief Medical Officer S.P. Chaudhary said.
After interviewing the affected persons, officials suspected that the high incidence of HIV could be due to a quack who used a single infected syringe to treat patients in the area.
U.P. Health Minister Sidharth Nath Singh has ordered a probe and said the accused would be arrested soon. The affected persons have been referred to the Kanpur medical college for Antiretroviral Therapy.
A case was registered against the quack, Rajendra Kumar, under Sections 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of the Indian Penal Code. Section 15 (3) of the Indian Medical Council Act, which deals with practising without licence, was also invoked, said Bangermau SHO Arun Prakash Singh. “We are still collecting evidence,” the officer told The Hindu when asked if the accused would be arrested.
P.K. Dohre, the medical superintendent of the local community health centre, said that as per information gathered from the affected persons, the accused quack would visit the villages on a bicycle, and conduct his business sitting on the porch of a high school. “He would stay there for two-three hours. For ₹10, he would provide both medicine and injection to the patients. People flocked to him in large numbers. After speaking to the HIV-affected persons, the investigating team also found that they had received treatment from the same place,” said Mr. Dohre.
While officials have prima facie held the quack responsible for the HIV cases, the government is also probing other angles, including the high incidence of migration and transit in the Bangermau area, which Mr. Singh said had become a “centre of sex” with truck drivers passing it. “Since it’s a transit point, HIV carriers are likely to come there. So we are also mapping truck drivers,” he said.
