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28 March 2024

Child who received contaminated blood is AIDS-free

Riham al Hikmi (SUPPLIED)

Published
By Staff

A 12-year-old Saudi girl who was given contaminated blood by mistake at a local hospital has not been infected with AIDS according to medical tests conducted in the United States, Saudi newspapers reported on Wednesday.

Riham al Hikmi hit headlines in the oil-rich Gulf Kingdom last month after she was reported to have been infected with the killer disease by receiving contaminated blood at a hospital in the southern province of Jazan.
“Preliminary tests conducted in the US showed Riham does not carry the virus,” her uncle Mohammed al Hikmi said, quoted by the local press.

Jazan Hospital admitted last month that it was an error by one of its technicians and apologized to the girl’s family but the Ministry of Health decided to open an investigation into the case following media furor.

The hospital said the technician made a mistake when he transferred blood to the girl from a donor infected with the Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome.

Newspapers have said the incident had triggered a wave of public protests by social networks users, who called for immediate action against that hospital.