Nearly 900 Children Infected With HIV in One Pakistani City

Almost 900 children in a single community in Pakistan tested positive for HIV, with authorities blaming a single pediatrician reusing syringes.

Health officials say the city of Ratodero became the epicenter of an outbreak, according to The New York Times. About 1,100 individuals have tested positive, about 900 of those patients under the age of 12. Officials warn the true number could be higher as not everyone in the community has been tested. An estimated 225,000 live in Ratodero, the capital of the Ratodero Taluka province.

Television journalist Gulbahar Shaikh was among the first to report on a spike in diagnoses. He has since learned that his 2-year-old daughter contracted the virus. "It was devastating," he said.

His daughter, like many of the young patients, is a patient of pediatrician Muzaffar Ghanghro.

The physician serves a high number of poor patients in part because he charges just 20 cents a visit for parents who earn less than $60 a month. Officials now believe Ghangro kept costs down in part by reusing syringes.

One parent, Imtiaz Jalbani, told the Times an alarming story of the physician digging through his garbage to find a syringe. When the parent objected, Ghangro told the father he was too poor to afford a new needle. Four of Jalbani's six children were ultimately infected with HIV and two have since died.

Ghangro has since been arrested and charged with manslaughter, negligence, and causing unintentional harm. But he denied reusing syringes to the Times and continues to work as a general practitioner at a government hospital.

Health officials initially believed the entire outbreak to stem from Ghangro's office. But as numbers escalated, officials say there is likely more than one source of the problem. Reports of visiting health officials have said other doctors reuse syringes, and problems could also worsen as other professionals like barbers fail to sterilize equipment.