Poor infection control practices led to an unprecedented HIV outbreak among hundreds of children in Pakistan, according to a recent study.

The outbreak in Pakistan’s Sindh province was detected in April 2019. A government task force’s investigation discovered that private and public health facilities reused needles and transfused blood products that weren’t screened for infection. In the aftermath, 3 blood banks and 300 clinics were closed. A free HIV screening and counseling camp also was established at Tehsil Hospital in the town of Ratodero. The study authors analyzed data from more than 31 000 people who were tested there.

Overall, 3% of those screened tested HIV positive. Children were disproportionately affected: 82% of the infections were detected among those younger than 16 years and 79% were in children aged 5 years or younger. Among children whose mothers were tested, only 11% had mothers with HIV infection. Of the 453 children whose potential exposure history was available, 89% had received multiple injections primarily for diarrheal illnesses and respiratory tract infections. In addition, 9% had undergone a blood transfusion.

最近的一项研究表明，不良的感染控制措施导致巴基斯坦数百名儿童史无前例地爆发了艾滋病毒。

巴基斯坦信德省的疫情已于2019年4月发现。政府工作队的调查发现，私人和公共卫生机构重复使用了未经筛选感染的针头和输血产品。之后，关闭了3家血库和300家诊所。在Ratodero镇的Tehsil医院还建立了免费的HIV筛查和咨询营地。该研究的作者分析了来自超过31 000人的数据。

总体而言，接受筛查的人群中有3％检测出HIV阳性。儿童受到的影响不成比例：在16岁以下的人群中发现了82％的感染，而在5岁以下的儿童中发现了79％的感染。在接受母亲检查的儿童中，只有11％的母亲感染了艾滋病毒。在453名有潜在接触史的儿童中，有89％的儿童多次注射主要用于腹泻病和呼吸道感染。此外，9％接受了输血。