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)