MULTAN: Panic erupted in Nishtar Hospital’s nephrology ward on Saturday when five dialysis patients tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), doctors said unofficially.
Earlier, 25 dialysis patients had tested positive for HIV, after which Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz directed Nephrology Ward HOD Professor Dr. Ghulam Abbas, Medical Superintendent Dr. Kazim Khan and five doctors including other medical staff. Action under the Pedda Act was ordered against him. During repeated blood testing of patients registered in the dialysis unit, five new HIV-positive cases were detected.
People can test positive for HIV during screening two to three weeks or sometimes one to two months after contracting the virus, experts said.
The total number of HIV positive patients in the dialysis unit has now reached 30. One out of every 25 HIV-positive patients has died. The AIDS Control Program and other concerned officials have been informed about the new positive patients, officials said. Repeated attempts were made to contact Dr Wali, the spokesperson of the Vice Chancellor of Nishtar Hospital, but the network could not reach him.