More evidence to acquit Tripoli Six

More evidence that the outbreak of HIV and HCV in the Libyan children's hospital predates the arrival in Libya of the foreign healthworkers accused of deliberately causing the outbreak, is published in a peer-reviewed paper in Nature tomorrow. Go here for more information about the plight of the Tripoli Six.

Here is the abstract of the paper (de Oliveira et al, Nature 444, 836 - 837):

In 1998, outbreaks of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection were reported in children attending Al-Fateh Hospital in Benghazi, Libya. Here we use molecular phylogenetic techniques to analyse new virus sequences from these outbreaks. We find that the HIV-1 and HCV strains were already circulating and prevalent in this hospital and its environs before the arrival in March 1998 of the foreign medical staff (five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor) who stand accused of transmitting the HIV strain to the children.

They conclude:

Our results support the existing nosocomial transmission scenario^{1, 11} and suggest that Al-Fateh Hospital had a long-standing infection-control problem. The earlier origin and greater number of HCV clusters than HIV-1 clusters reflect the higher transmissibility of HCV compared with HIV-1 by such routes¹². Crucially, we have shown that the HIV-1 and HCV strains responsible were being spread and transmitted among individuals attending the hospital before March 1998, indicating that many of the transmissions giving rise to the infection clusters must have already occurred before the foreign medical staff arrived.

The verdict in the trial is due soon. Let us hope the Libyan authorities see sense and acquit these innocent people.