Worries Mount That HIV Infections in Cambodian Village Could Rise

Unlicensed Doctor Is Being Held in Protective Custody by Police 

Wall Street Journal | 20 December 2014

Villagers in Roka village in Cambodia's Battambang province rushed to have their blood tested on

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia—The number of confirmed HIV cases stemming from a mass infection in a remote northwestern part of Cambodia leapt to 140 on Saturday and concerns are mounting that the tally could climb higher. 

Local officials say an unlicensed doctor who worked in the area for more than two decades is being held in protective custody by police. He is believed by investigators to have spread the virus accidentally with the use of contaminated needles. The man, Yem Chrin, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment, and local officials have said they are also investigating other possible causes for the sudden increase in infections in Roka village, which is near Battambang. 

On Saturday, the Pasteur Institute in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh said the number of confirmed cases of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, had climbed to at least 140 from 90 on Friday.

“It is probably more since more samples have been sent to the laboratory for testing,” said Didier Fontenille, the institute’s director. “I don’t know how many samples have been sent so far, but I can tell you that some tested negative.”

Medical teams from the World Health Organization and the Joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS, or UNAIDS, have traveled to Roka village to look into the high number of infections. 

The health crisis in Roka has transfixed the nation in recent days, partly because Cambodian authorities, with the help of foreign health organizations, were successful in halting the rapid spread of the virus in the 1990s.

By using television and radio talk shows, as well as traveling roadshows stressing condom use, HIV prevalence in the country has fallen to 0.4% of the population today from 2% in 1998, according to Cambodia’s National Center for HIV/AIDS.

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday appeared in a special television broadcast to launch what he described as a thorough investigation into the matter. Health officials urged people not to panic.

But fears are growing as the number of confirmed infections mount. Some villagers in Roka have told local media they are determined to find the man they believe is responsible for the health crisis and kill him. 

The crisis began in late November, when a 74-year-old man from Roka tested positive for HIV at the Roka Health Center, according to a statement from Cambodia’s Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization.

After receiving the result, the man then sent his granddaughter and son-in-law for testing. They also tested positive for the virus. The man then informed other villagers who had been treated by Mr. Yem Chrin to get tested for HIV. After that, the number of cases steadily rose.

Cambodian Health Minister Man Bunhent said the investigation is continuing and authorities are providing testing and counseling services. He also urged that the privacy of the families involved be respected.

“We are all surprised,” said Dr. Fontenille at the Pasteur Institute. “This is unusual.”