A Ugandan nurse who is HIV positive is accused of infecting a 2-year-old patient with her blood, the Associated Press reported Monday.
Rosemary Namubiru, 64 has been charged with attempted murder for the incident that occurred on Jan. 7. The nurse was trying to give an injection to the child when she accidentally pricked her finger on the needle, advocacy group AIDS-Free World reported, according to the AP. Namubiru bandaged her finger, but allegedly used the contaminated needle to inject the child.
A test showed Namubiru was HIV positive and she was arrested. The charges against the nurse were later changed to criminal negligence.
Nicknamed the "killer nurse," by the local media, she could potentially be the first Ugandan medical worker to be convicted for negligently spreading an infectious disease under a law that has been the same since colonial times, the AP reported.
It is not clear if the needle the nurse used was the same one she pricked her finger on. When the child's mother found out, she "became concerned about the possibility that her child had been exposed to HIV," AIDS-Free World reported, according to the AP.
The 2-year-old was given treatment after the incident to prevent possible infection. The child is to be re-tested for HIV in the near future.
Namubiru's trial is a potential setback for Uganda's reputation as a world leader in the battle against AIDS. Nearly 1.5 million of the country's population of 36 million have the disease.
The trial could set "a dangerous precedent and could have grave consequences for the fundamental rights of people living with HIV and AIDS in Uganda and beyond," AIDS-Free World said, the AP reported.
Others say Namubiru is the real victim.
"She was working and she got into a bad accident and it should have been treated as such," Dorah Kiconco, a lawyer who runs Uganda Network on Law, a watchdog group, told the AP.
"She's on trial because of her HIV status."
Namubiru, who was held without bail, faces up to 7 years in prison if she is convicted.
