AIDS patient attacks visitor at K.H.M.H.
A bizarre incident two weeks ago at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital turned a visit with a loved one into a life and death drama. According to hospital authorities, on Saturday, March fifteenth, a young HIV positive woman receiving treatment at the K.H.M.H., was visiting with several members of her family and friends when, without warning, she went berserk and attacked one of her visitors. According to the Chief Executive Officer at the K.H.M.H., Dr. Alvaro Rosado, in the pandemonium, the patient bit off her victim’s lip, simultaneously disfiguring her and quite possibly, infecting her with HIV.
Dr. Alvaro Rosado, Chief Executive Officer, K.H.M.H.
“A patient in medical ward, who had tested positive for HIV had been showing some signs of dementia, doing some things that would not be considered not very normal. She had a lot of support from family and friends and sometime last week she apparently lured one of the family or friends near to her, apparently to tell her a secret, and when she had the opportunity bit the relative’s lip off. The lip, the lip of the relative or friend.”
Janelle Chanona
“Like completely off?”
Alvaro Rosado
“Apparently it was completely off.”
“The relative, the victim took it in good stride, apparently and thought it was all a joke, and it was after the hospital authorities were informed, that we had to track the victim down and inform them that this was a serious situation, given that the patient was HIV positive. The victim did come in and we administered antiretroviral treatment immediately to start the regimen and they were given an appointment to come back. Unfortunately the victim has not returned and we are kind of concerned. The treatment has to be followed up to ensure that we can do what we can to stop the cross-infection.”
“If the victim is out there listening, we’d like to suggest that they seriously consider coming back so we can continue the treatment to try to, as much as possible, prevent an infection from the HIV positive patient.”
Janelle Chanona
“What about the patient, what has happened to her?”
Alvaro Rosado
“The patient was subsequently discharged; the patient is no longer at the hospital.”
Janelle Chanona
“And they’ve gone back home?”
Alvaro Rosado
“I cannot say that with any certainty. All I know is the patient has been discharged. Unofficially I’ve been informed to their home country, which I think is Honduras.”
Janelle Chanona
“What does this say us as far as not even just security in the wards but security as far as family and friends about AIDS education, within the hospital?”
Alvaro Rosado
“Well I think it’s very important for the educational part of it, but I do think that what it shows is that K.H.M.H. needs to have the facilities to handle people who are not medical patients, but rather psychiatric patients. Obviously this person was a psychiatric patient and since there are no facilities in Belize K.H.M.H. has to take whatever comes here, so we had a psychiatric case. If we had a psychiatric unit, that person would have been properly taken care of. But that person was treated as a medical patient, had friends visiting and just happened to decide to bit one’s lip off.”
Janelle Chanona
“This is the first time an incident like this has happened right?”
Alvaro Rosado
“To the best of my knowledge, but knowing K.H.M.H. I won’t vouch for that. It is very possible that even more weird or weirder things have happened here.”
Plans are underway for the construction of a psychiatric unit on the grounds of the K.H.M.H. That facility is due to be completed by the end of this year.
