Chennai: A 23-year-old pregnant woman, who turned HIV-positive after receiving infected blood during a transfusion at a Tamil Nadu hospital in December, gave birth to a baby girl on Thursday evening.
Doctors at the government-run Rajaji Hospital in Madurai said the baby, born at 6:45pm, is underweight but doing fine.
"The baby cried immediately and is fine except that the weight of the baby is 1.75kg. Normally, the weight of a baby is between 2.5 kg and 3.5 kg. Because of the low birth weight, she has been admitted in the newborn intensive care unit. The baby has been given Nevirapine syrup to prevent HIV transmission," said Dr Shanmugasundaram, Dean, Rajaji Hospital.
Nevirapine syrup is given to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Shanmugasundaram said the medicine will be administered for six to 12 weeks. "The baby is also being given Hepatitis B vaccine hemoglobin to prevent Hepatitis B virus transmission," he said.
The girl child will undergo HIV tests on the 45th day of her birth to determine if she has caught the infection.
The presence of infection in the mother came to light after her donor underwent regular medical examination and got diagnosed with HIV. By the time he alerted the government hospital, his blood had already been given to the woman.
Tests confirmed that the woman had contracted the infection. Three officers were suspended after the incident came to light. The state’s health department promised the best treatment for the woman, wife of a daily wage earner, and she was shifted to Rajaji Hospital in Madurai district for treatment.
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