Ensure safe blood supply

A 5-year-old girl from Fujian province nicknamed Maomao became infected with HIV through blood transfusion. This is a serious matter that shows the need for improving blood screening mechanisms in China. The girl was infected during an operation for congenital heart disease in 2010, and tested positive for HIV in September 2014 after she came down with a fever for 17 days.

Blood transfusions are essential to treat excessive blood loss during accidents or as a result of diseases such as hemophilia. If a person receives HIV-infected blood during transfusion, there is a 95 percent risk that he/she will become infected with the virus. The possibility of acquiring HIV from a blood transfusion varies among the countries, and depends on the quality of blood screening procedures and other safety precautions.

Although the risk of contracting HIV through a strictly screened blood transfusion is relatively low, the kind of incidents in which Maomao was infected indicates the need to improve screening mechanisms for HIV. In the case of Maomao, in addition to the serious medical consequences of the infection, the medical fees for her treatment have spiraled to 300,000 yuan ($48362.91) and placed her family in serious debt.