News  Mideast News
Girl gets HIV-tainted blood transfusion, Saudi Arabia in uproar
Roi Kais
Published: 24.02.13, 18:39
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12 Talkbacks for this article
1. hope
anton ,   istanbul   (02.24.13)
good for nothing saudies wont behead her
2. HIV DOES NOT KILL
JOE ,   Israel   (02.24.13)
"The line "hey sorry about what happened, so take this iPad and download some apps while you're waiting to die" was widely posted on Twitter, according to CNN" HIV DOES NOT KILL IF ONE HAD THE MEDS AND IS READY TO TAKE THEM AS DIRECTED BY DOCTORS.
3. perhaps Gods way of bringing Islamic society up short
Galut ia ,   Selah   (02.24.13)
there is times when each of us needs to be brought up short... even though HIV can be horrific and deadly ...how we treat those going thru it tells a lot about our personal and religious foundations .
4. "an official from the Saudi human rights commission"
A ,   Belgium   (02.24.13)
This is a misprint, right? A "human rights" commission in one of the most oppressive, repressive, paranoid societies on the planet? Since when did Saudi Arabia give a s*t about human rights, especially FEMALE human rights. Guess its just a Ynet typo error, and excused.
5. Sickle cell anemia?
Sarah B ,   U.S.A. / Israel   (02.24.13)
In Saudi Arabia? Hmm. Interesting.
6. #5 Yes
Edwin ,   Canada   (02.25.13)
The incidence is very high. Many of my Saudi co-workers had family members suffering from it, reflecting the strong African connection. Remember, Sudanese, Eritreans, Somalians consider themselves Arabs and many immigrants have become fully integrated into Saudi society. You also need to know Saudis claim a different lineage than most Arabs. They do not claim to be of Abraham's elk.
7. She WONT get HIV...
Ahmed ,   London   (02.25.13)
the article states that it was discovered a few hours after the transfusion that the blood was tainted. there are treatments, very effective ones, that can be taken within 72 hours of exposure to hiv, that will significantly reduces the chances of acquiring the virus. its called post exposure pro-phylaxis or PeP. most effective within 24 hours. i would really hope that they put her on that treatment. its quite nasty, and its a month long course of powerful drugs with bad side effects, but they do work at blocking the virus from taking hold in the body, if taken early enough. so i really hope she got that treatment..
8. Sickle cell
Richard ,   USA   (02.25.13)
Two things: 1) Sickle-cell gene mutation probably arose spontaneously in different geographic areas, as suggested by restriction endonuclease analysis. These variants are known as Cameroon, Senegal, Benin, Bantu and Saudi-Asian. Their clinical importance springs from the fact that some of them are associated with higher HbF levels, e.g., Senegal and Saudi-Asian variants, and tend to have milder disease. 2) Slavery was legal in Saudi Arabia until 1962. At the time, the slave population was about 300,000. A DNA study showed Saudi Arabian DNA has about a 7% sub-Saharan African component.
9. How ?
DavidM ,   New England   (02.25.13)
How did the married guy get it? Why are they allowing this girl to be seen without a veil? They wouldn't let them out of school and let them burn to death because they weren't veiled.
10. To: Richard at No. 8
Sarah B ,   U.S.A. / Israel   (02.25.13)
Thank you for the explanation. I hadn't known.
11. To: Edwin at No. 6
Sarah B ,   U.S.A. / Israel   (02.25.13)
Thank you. I hadn't realized. I had always assumed that sickle-cell anemia was closely associated with malaria. Can't imagine how you'd find malaria in Saudi Arabia -- but I didn't think it through.
12. Pep
Anonymous ,   US   (02.25.13)
Actually, PEP is not all that bad. The drug used is called Truvada and it has very minimal side effects. She won't even feel, and will be much more affected by her sickle cell anemia than anything else. I would however caution that a blood transfusion is very likely going to infect her permanently.
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