Around 380 children have been infected with HIV through blood products in the UK, an inquiry has found.

Patients were infected with HIV and hepatitis C through contaminated blood products imported from the US during the 1970s and 1980s. It is thought about 2,400 people died as a result.

At least 175 children were initially reported to be infected, but a new inquiry into the scandal has estimated the number to be more than double.

Jenni Richards KC, counsel to the Infected Blood Inquiry, said the 175 figure derived from the HIV Haemophilia Litigation as the number who were still children at the time of the settlement.

“The Inquiry estimates that the number of people who were children when infected is more than two times that number,” she wrote.

The inquiry now says some 380 children were infected, making up a third of the total number.

The new estimate was based on the proportion of children among people with bleeding disorders, using data published in The Lancet in 1996 and figures provided by the UK Haemophilia Doctors’ Organisation.

Infected blood scandal victims and bereaved partners to receive £100,000 by today

Thousands of victims of infected blood scandal will receive £100,000 by the end of this month

Infected blood victims to be offered £100,000 in government compensation

In what has been labelled the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS, the infected blood scandal occurred after the UK struggled to keep up with demand for treatments tackling the blood-clotting condition hemophilia and other bleeding disorders – so began importing infected products from overseas.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Most of the patients affected had been relying on regular injections of the US product Factor VIII to survive.

Patients were unaware they were being treated with contaminated products from people who were paid to donate, including prisoners and drug addicts, and were injected for years despite repeated warnings at the top of government.

Some victims were also infected after receiving blood transfusions.

Decades after the first contaminations, new cases of HIV and hepatitis have continued to be diagnosed, resulting in many early deaths.

Related posts:

Four more countries added to England’s travel ‘red list’ COVID-19 police warning ahead of Kill the Bill protests Streatham terror attacker spent mother’s £20 on fake suicide belt, inquest hears Warnings about murdered six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes ignored, grandfather says A quarter of parents bend rules to get children into preferred school, survey finds What has Boris Johnson said about No 10 lockdown parties? Atletico Madrid could face UEFA action after ugly scenes in Man City clash Number of people waiting more than a year for NHS treatment almost 200 times higher than pre-pandemic 2022 UK rich list reveals record number of billionaires Image of Audi Q3 released as part of Olivia Pratt-Korbel murder investigation Truss refuses to commit to raising benefits in line with inflation despite growing pressure Five American bulldogs destroyed after woman mauled to death