A fellow is in prison for supposedly infecting a child with HIV, by injecting him with blood drawn from an AIDS patient.
This seems far fetched; can anyone inform me about this?
lindsay
Sorry for not having the cites–a more awake person can probably help but yes, it is true.
Apparently this poor excuse for a human actually injected his son with HIV-tainted blood to get out of paying child support. From what I understand, he has been brought up on charges but if the child dies, he will be charged with murder.
I have a hobby. I have the world’s largest collection of seashells. I keep it scattered on beaches all over the world. Maybe you’ve seen some of it.
Yes, it’s pretty despicable, but cases of a parent murdering a child are more common than you might think.
Here’s a cite www.kcstar.com/item/pages/home.pat,local/30dalf6.526,.html
I have a hobby. I have the world’s largest collection of seashells. I keep it scattered on beaches all over the world. Maybe you’ve seen some of it.
My question was about how likely is it that a person would be infected with a one time exposure to HIV? I thought the HIV virus died if exposed to air.
It seemed more likely the child would have had a reaction to being injected with blood, with symptoms of hives or some other symtom.
lindsay
The blood sample wasn’t exposed to air, or at least not enough to expose all the blood in the sample to air. All you need is a drop that hasn’t become dried out.
And the child may also have had a reaction to the blood. One doesn’t eliminate the other.
That’s a link to a blank page, beth.
I think there may have actually been a couple cases of this happening. One of them was right here in Lafayette, LA and it was a DOCTOR that did it. He’s been sentenced to 50 years, but is currently appealing his conviction.
The story is that his mistress wanted to break off their 10 year affair. Dr. Smith (first name Richard, I think) didn’t like the sounds of this, so he played it cool for a while and then gave her what she thought was a flu shot. Turned out to be the mixture of the blood of two of his patients, one of whom was HIV+ and, as if that wasn’t bad enough on its own, the other had Hepatitis, I think. I’m not quite sure on the Hepatitis. I know it was some other STD, but not positive it was Hep. I’ll get back to you with more details and a cite.
“Honey we’re recovering Christians.”
–Tori Amos - In the Springtime of his Voodoo
Oh sorry. I hadn’t noticed that you were referring to a CHILD being infected with AIDS-tainted blood. My example wouldn’t apply then.
I vaguely recall hearing something about the case you’re talking about, though. Wasn’t it the kid’s father that did it?
“Honey we’re recovering Christians.”
–Tori Amos - In the Springtime of his Voodoo
The link to the KCstar article is broken- FWIW, it was in one of the suburbs of St. Louis and the father, a RN, did it to collect on the insurance money. I don’t think it has gone to trial yet so I don’t know if this is truly what happened, just what the police/prosecutors have alleged.
And if blood was drawn from a person and injected into his son from the same syringe, exposure to air would be minimal. And if this was the case, there’s a good chance his son would be infected.
I’m not a doctor so you might want to wait for one to post on this thread.
There was actually a case tried in Texas (I think) within the last couple of years. Same situation, only the child was in the hospital for (I think) a cancer treatment.
The father injected him with AIDS tainted blood, and later one of the hospital workers noted that the little boy showed the symptoms of receiving an incompatible blood transfusion.
The little boy died within a couple of years, and someone came forward to say that they’d heard the father talk about getting rid of his son so he wouldn’t have to pay child support anymore. The man was arrested, indicted, and convicted of first degree murder, and IIRC, he was sentenced to death.
The only other case I can think of that’s similar is the Florida dentist who was HIV+ and infected at least six of his patients. Now, there’s no real way for that to have happened accidentally - not with the level of precaution that exists. Most of the people involved believe that he purposedfully injected his victims with his own tainted blood. He died shortly after authorities started raising eyebrows about very low-risk people coming up with HIV infections and found the common link to be his practice.
Sorry about the link, heres some c&p of the article:
ST. CHARLES, Mo. – There was abuse of all kinds, Jennifer Jackson testified. Physical, verbal, emotional. And a chilling threat from her then-boyfriend that their son would not live to see the age of 5.
Jackson says she now understands what he meant.
On Tuesday, the St. Charles County woman for the first time publicly described a charge that stunned the nation: how her boyfriend allegedly injected their son with AIDS-tainted blood to avoid paying child support.
Clutching a box of tissues, Jackson testified in court in this city just northwest of St. Louis that Brian T. Stewart told her “he could inject anyone with anything and no one would ever know.” Stewart, of Columbia, Ill., had worked as a phlebotomist, a medical worker who draws blood.
Jackson’s testimony was part of a preliminary hearing to determine whether Stewart would stand trial. He was charged in April with first-degree assault, although that charge could be expanded to first-degree murder if the boy dies.
Health officials say the case is one of the first in which someone is accused of knowingly injecting another person with AIDS-tainted blood.
(Later in the article)
On Feb. 2, 1992, their son was hospitalized for respiratory problems.
According to Jackson, Stewart visited them in a Lake St. Louis hospital on Feb. 6. She had remarked that she was thirsty, and he suggested that she get a soda. When she returned, she heard her son screaming.
Prosecutors say that is when Stewart injected his son.
Within hours, the boy’s condition worsened, Jackson said.
Later that year, Jackson asked Stewart for child support.
Jackson said: “He told me, `Don’t worry. He won’t live to see the age of 5.’ I told him that I would see him in court.”
After more illnesses, the boy was diagnosed with full-blown AIDS in August 1996. Jackson said doctors told her that he had three months to live.
A combination of protease inhibitors, known as a “cocktail,” has helped the boy survive. But, Jackson said, “He is still at risk. As long as we can keep him on medication, hopefully we can keep the illnesses under control.”
I have a hobby. I have the world’s largest collection of seashells. I keep it scattered on beaches all over the world. Maybe you’ve seen some of it.
I watched that trial on Court TV. What interested me was that bit about injecting the boy with blood, I thought that there should have been an immediate reaction to the foreign blood.
Somewhere I read that a one time contact with HIV wasn’t likely to spread the disease.
Guess that was wrong.
lindsay
IIRC the guy was a phlebotomist (one who obtains blood samples from patients). He was the only person in contact with the child, who was also in contact with AIDS-positive people. I kinda wonder how he thought he was gonna explain his way out of all this.
That’s not wrong, it’s criminal. I have a dream . . . . . -where all the people who fought against medically controlling AIDS, , , - get infected and die from it. - MC