Kyrgyzstan
toddlers' HIV blamed on medical negligence

Seven more Kyrgyzstan toddlers and two adults have been diagnosed with HIV in an outbreak blamed on medical negligence, officials said Friday, raising the number of people infected to 22.

The latest cases were found in the southern city of Osh during widespread blood testing following the outbreak in June, said Sagynaly Mamatov of the regional AIDS center.

Health ministry officials in the former Soviet republic have accused medical staff of accidentally infecting the children and adults while administering blood transfusions and injections.

The health minister has fired four medical officials, including the heads of the Osh region's children's hospital and blood transfusion center.

The exact source of the infection was difficult to identify since the first HIV-diagnosed child had been hospitalized 12 times in various medical centers, the ministry said.

Hundreds of children and their mothers have been checked in southern Kyrgyzstan since the first cases of infection were reported.

There are 1,203 HIV carriers in the impoverished Central Asian country of 5 million, according to official figures. (AP)