3 min readRanchiJan 29, 2026 06:08 PM IST
First published on: Jan 29, 2026 at 06:08 PM IST
After a family from Jharkhand’s Chaibasa claimed that a husband and daughter contracted HIV from the wife who had tested positive for the virus following a blood transfusion at the Chaibasa Sadar Hospital, a Health Department investigation has concluded that the hospital’s blood bank was not the source of the infection, officials said on Thursday.
West Singhbhum district’s Civil Surgeon, Bharti Minj, said the department traced two separate sources of blood that had been administered to the woman during a Cesarean procedure that she underwent, and that both donors were tested for HIV.
“Both test results have come back negative. Based on this, we can conclude that the Chaibasa Sadar Hospital blood bank has no role in the alleged spread of HIV in this case,” Minj said.
The allegations by the family came months after five children, who were thalassemia patients, tested positive for HIV in October last year, allegedly after getting blood transfusions using blood from the hospital’s blood bank.
Minj said the investigations into these cases had also been completed and that a report was expected to be submitted by the Drugs Directorate.
Ritu Sahay, director of the Jharkhand State Drugs Directorate, said the report could not be made public. “We have already submitted the report to the head of the investigation team led by the Health Department’s special secretary, Neha Arora,” Sahay said.
Neha Arora, who led the high-level committee that visited Ranchi in connection with the thalassemia cases, had said last year after the investigation that there was nothing very serious in the report.
While there has been no official communication so far from a Central team, which also conducted a parallel inquiry, the investigation report has not yet been made public.
In the case of the Chaibasa family, a man had alleged that his wife tested positive for HIV after she gave birth to her first child through a Caesarean delivery, during which she was administered blood from the hospital’s blood bank. Later, her husband and the child had also tested positive, he had said.
Leader of Opposition Babulal Marandi, in a post on X earlier this month, claimed that the case showed that the issue of alleged HIV-infected blood transfusion at Chaibasa Sadar Hospital was not new, referring to last year’s thalassemia cases. He alleged serious negligence and demanded a CBI inquiry into the hospital management and blood bank operations.
Marandi also questioned why the blood bank was not shut and criticised the state government for what he termed was a failure in running government hospitals, while the Chief Minister was signing agreements with private hospitals abroad.
West Singhbhum district’s Civil Surgeon, Bharti Minj, said the department traced two separate sources of blood that had been administered to the woman during a Cesarean procedure that she underwent, and that both donors were tested for HIV. 
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