JEDDAH — The World AIDS Day brings back the memories of three female kidney patients who got infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes the disease while receiving treatment at a dialysis center in Jazan due to a lack of precautionary measures. According to a study published in Oxford Journals of May 2014, a 46-year-old married woman was infected with HIV from a dialysis unit in Jazan in November 2011. She had been a kidney failure patient for 12 years and received dialyses in Abha before moving to Jazan. The patient previously tested negative for HIV even after getting a blood transfusion. Her husband also tested negative for the virus. The woman showed symptoms only after dialysis in Jazan. The second patient was a 70-year-old woman who had been undergoing hemodialysis for 20 years, while the third case was a 30-year-old woman. The husbands of both patients were HIV-negative. The study discovered that the same technician attended all three patients at the dialysis unit. Dialysis protocol required a 15-minute disinfection cycle. According to the study, all three patients received dialysis in the same room. It said the source of infection could be a nurse who used blood-stained gloves to handle vascular access lines of multiple patients or a shared syringe to access a multidose vial of heparin. The general manager of the National AIDS Program at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Samia Filimban, who is also the chairman of AIDS Charity Society, said 1,777 new AIDS cases were detected in the Kingdom in 2013 alone and 542 of them were Saudis. This number, said Filimban, is an all-time record. “The rise in numbers may be because of increased efforts to detect new cases. It could also serve as an alarm bell that the rate of HIV infections is increasing in the Kingdom like other Arab countries. In any case, providing treatment, as well as psychological and social support, is of paramount importance,” she said, adding many of the new cases were among young people. Filimban said the Kingdom has made remarkable achievements in increasing awareness about AIDS and has carried out different programs and activities in this regard. She said the World AIDS Day is a chance to increase awareness and focus on specific issues. The day, she added, is also an occasion to emphasize precautionary measures to combat wrong behavior in treatment rooms and overcome the stigma associated with the disease. The disease, clarified Filimban, has to be dealt with in groups, rather than individually. “This will help society to be conscious and aware. The work plans have to go against the traditional methods to be able to meet the international goals of combating the disease, she said. “Support is needed from every member of society to protect themselves and their families.” The Kingdom is marking the day under the theme: Getting to Zero: Zero infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. The day will be observed in cooperation with WHO's regional office and King Faisal Specialist Hospital.
