An estimated 5-7 per cent of the population in the state is believed to be infected by the virus.The infection is rampant among personnel of the Punjab Police and their kin, according to Dr BS Bal, Guru Nanak Dev Hospital here. Most patients who came for treatment at the hospital hailed from Jalandhar, Gurdaspur, Kapurthala, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Mohali and Moga, he said.
He said an estimated 350 Punjab Police personnel had been admitted and cured at the hospital in 2009. Almost an equal number were treated in 2010. “Most policemen who come for treatment have been infected because of unsafe sex and consumption of prohibitive drugs,” said Dr Bal.
The virus can also be contracted through drip, multi-dose injection vials, improperly sterilised invasion medical devices like tongue depressors, thermometers, surgical and dental equipment, unscreened blood transfusion or from an infected mother to the child during birth.
The situation is dismal in rural areas because of the quacks. According to a study by a team of hospital doctors, three groups of population in Amritsar are at a high risk of being infected - habitual drug users (IDUs), truckers, and those suffering from sexually transmitted diseases. As many as 16.6 per cent drug addicts were found infected by HIV and Hepatitis B. At least 19 per cent truckers were HIV positive and 6 per cent carried the Hapatitis B virus. At least 4.3 per cent attending STD clinics were HIV positive and 3.7per cent suffered from Hepatitis B.
