Hospital finds HIV-contaminated blood supplied by local Red Cross

BANDUNG (JP): A private hospital here has found that nine bags of blood supplied by the local office of the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) have tested positive to the Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus (HIV).

Head of the Advent Hospital laboratory, Jan Kaimana, said on Thursday that his staff detected the deadly virus in a recent test using the pesona method, which is more effective than the commonly known elisa technique, only after the family of a patient requested the examination of the blood.

"We usually offer the test beforehand to our patients who will receive the PMI blood, because it costs quite a lot," Kaimana said, adding that the patient wanted all nine bags.

"We conducted the tests after the patient's family agreed to pay for them."

The hospital charges a patient Rp 180,000 for a pesona blood test.

Kaimana said that soon after the findings the hospital sent three of the bags back to the PMI office here and the remaining bags to the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital in Jakarta for verification.

The Advent Hospital needs around 300 pouches of blood, each containing 250 cc, from the PMI office per month.

Head of PMI branch office here, Matin Burhan, would not confirm the existence of the HIV-contaminated blood, saying he had yet to receive a report on the case.

But the office's executive in charge of blood transfusion, Erlin Kartabrata, admitted that she received on Monday the three pouches of blood suspected of containing HIV.

A second test using the elisa method on the blood, however, turned out negative, according to Erlin.

"We have also sent the blood to Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital for another test," she said on Thursday.

The Jakarta-based state hospital uses the western blot method, which many say to be more accurate than the other methods.

Erlin said the PMI office disposed of between 25,000 and 30,000 bags of blood annually for containing viruses of venereal diseases, hepatitis B and C as well as HIV.

The office supplies the blood to 27 hospitals and 11 clinics across the city.

In Jakarta, Minister of Health and Social Welfare Achmad Sujudi said he would look into the case thoroughly to examine the possibility of procedural flaws in the tests.

"There has been no such case found in the country, but if that happens the PMI must be held accountable," Sujudi said on Thursday. (25/edt)