Probe in Uttar Pradesh after 40 found HIV positive

The Uttar Pradesh Police have registered a case against a fake doctor for infecting at least 21 people in Unnao with HIV after he used one needle to treat all of them, PTI reported on Tuesday.

Villagers said they never saw Yadav change the needles he used and health official Sushil Choudhury said that that was the likely cause of the spread of HIV.

The health department had recently ordered an investigation to be conducted by a two-member committee following unusually high number of HIV cases being reported from the area.

India at the end of 2016 had an estimated 2.1 million people living with HIV, according to UNAIDS. Out of those, 9,100 were children under the age of 15. India has enrolled a 20 percent yearly decrease in new contaminations in the course of recent years, as indicated by the report.

Yadav visited villages on his bicycle and treated patients outdoors.

The news broke on Tuesday, months after the victims, including children, were diagnosed at a health camp organised by an NGO in November past year in Bangarmau city of Unnao district, reported Times Now news channel.

"Desperate people find desperate ways to get health care, " he said.

"This was an important lead".

'When we asked these patients whether they had used common syringes, some of them told us about a doctor they went to who uses the same syringe on all his patients. Villagers whined that he would give infusions for all afflictions for small installments, Choudhury said.

The Yogi Adityanath government has sought a report after 40 people were found infected with HIV after they were given injection with the same needle by a quack in Unnao district.

The transmission of HIV through infected syringes, especially among drug users, has been on the increase, despite efforts by the Indian government to control such cases.

'We ask HIV patients various things to know the source of infection, Choudhary said.

The HIV targets the immune system and weakens people's defence systems against infections and some types of cancer.