Court Convicts Nurse Over Mass HIV Infections at Private Sanatorium

A court in Kabardino-Balkaria has convicted a nurse for infecting more than 70 people with HIV and viral hepatitis.

From September 2022 to November 2023, sanitary and epidemiological regulations were systematically violated at a private sanatorium in the city of Nalchik. The facility failed to properly disinfect and sterilize medical instruments, while single-use medical supplies were repeatedly reused.

As a result of these violations, 71 patients were infected with acute viral hepatitis C and HIV. Investigators established that the infections were caused by the unsafe medical practices carried out at the sanatorium.

The court sentenced the nurse to four years in a general-regime penal colony.

At the same time, the criminal case against the sanatorium's general director and attending physician was terminated due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

Earlier reports indicated that nurses at a Russian maternity hospital had also been accused of infecting a premature infant with HIV, raising renewed concerns about compliance with medical safety standards.