HIV-positive baby dies in Russia because mother thought Aids was a ‘myth’ and refused treatment
More than 900,000 Russians are living with HIV today, but fewer than half are taking antiretroviral drugs, partly because of a conspiracy theory that the Aids-causing virus is a myth invented by the West
An investigation was launched in Russia on Monday into the death of a five-month-old HIV-positive baby whose mother refused her treatment because she believed the virus was a “myth”.
The woman, who has been HIV-positive for more than five years and always refused medical treatment, faces manslaughter charges and up to two years in prison in the Siberian city of Irkutsk.
Investigators said the baby died in February following pneumocystis pneumonia, a form of pneumonia that causes a lung infection in people with a compromised immune system.
“The baby’s mother was HIV-positive and refused treatment for herself and her daughter,” investigators said.
The regional Aids centre said the baby had been diagnosed with the onset of Aids when she was hospitalised.
“The lungs of the five-month baby girl literally exploded from inside,” the centre said in a statement.