Vietnamnet.vn
Podcast
Four members in the family of this man are HIV carriers.
It is surprising that the wives are immune from the deadly virus although their husbands are believed to have contracted it for at least five years, say doctors from the HCM City Pasteur Institute.
Epidemiological tests indicate that the men probably acquired the disease through sex or contact with infected blood, said the institute’s director, Dr. Tran Ngoc Huu.
Huu says his agency has asked local authorities to disseminate information about the disease and raise people’s awareness of measures to prevent it spreading across their community.
The expert said that defining the source of disease must be carried out very carefully because it would make great impacts on individuals and the community.
All 12 HIV carriers in Phu Dang hamlet are men, from 20 to 62 years old.
Dr. Huu said that it is difficult to define the time of infection because many patients are now in AIDS stage, meaning that they have caught this disease for at least five years.
Up to 12 people in Phu Dang hamlet were recently stunned when they knew that they contracted HIV, from unknown source. These people are between 30 and 60 years old. Notably, six of them are members of the same family.
The first man who was detected with HIV is Mr. Nguyen Van C, Mr. H.V.H’s son-in-law. Mr. C went to Binh Dan Hospital in HCM City for kidney treatment and doctors discovered the infection after testing his blood.
Having doubt of the accuracy of the hospital’s testing devices, H.V.H and his two sons went to the hospital for making trial tests. Unexpectedly, all of them were defined to be positive with HIV.
Many people in the hamlet were frightened and they also conducted blood tests and the result is up to 12 people in the hamlet contracted HIV, including a paralyzed man.
The patients said they and many others in the hamlet had previously received treatment from Mr. Do Van Hai, a retired physician. This physician offered treatment for various diseases. Many people said that they saw the physician used the same needles to give injection for several people.
Local residents worry that the actual number of people with HIV in the hamlet might be higher since many people dared not to have their blood tested or have been infected with the virus but have not revealed their condition.
The provincial Health Department is investigating the infection and has given instructions to patients and their relatives about how to care for people with HIV and how to prevent the spread of the virus.
The HCM City Pasteur Institute will send experts to Ben Tre in a few days to assist local health authorities in finding out the cause of the infection.
Senior Lieutenant Colonel Doan The Tan, chief of the office of Ben Tre Police Agency, said that Ben Tre police had been reported of the case and they would set up a mission for investigate very soon.
Mai Lan
.svg){kind=icon}
