Boy put on Aids drugs after needle stick

Cape Town - 131031 - Sebastian Claude got pricked on the finger at school (Ysterplaat Junior Primary). He is now on anti-retroviral medication in case the needle was infected with the HIV/AIDS virus. Reporter: Kieran Legg Picture: David Ritchie

Cape Town - 131031 - Sebastian Claude got pricked on the finger at school (Ysterplaat Junior Primary). He is now on anti-retroviral medication in case the needle was infected with the HIV/AIDS virus. Reporter: Kieran Legg Picture: David Ritchie

Published Nov 1, 2013

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Cape Town -

A bag of hypodermic needles dumped outside a school has turned a Cape Town family’s lives into a “living hell”.

This was after the bag, dumped near the Ysterplaat Junior Primary School in Brooklyn, was found by pupils and brought to the playground on Monday. One of the pupils was Sebastian Claude, 8.

“We don’t know exactly what happened, but they were playing with the bag and then he got pricked,” said his older brother Justin Kumlehn.

The used needle went deep, puncturing the skin and drawing blood.

According to the boy’s parents, Sean and Pam Claude, Sebastian rushed to get the wound treated at school.

“That’s when we got the call from the school’s secretary,” said Pam. “It’s when the nightmare began.”

The bag was taken to a doctor at the local clinic, who concluded the needles had been used before as they were in the bag without their plastic covers.

However, they were not the only items in the plastic packet.

Sebastian’s family said it included steroids, a pair of ID books and some photographs.

“The doctors started doing all these blood tests on Sebastian, sticking all these needles in his arms. He just sat there with this blank face, he was really brave,” said his mother.

While the blood test results will be available in three months, doctors have already started the child on antiretrovirals to prevent a possible HIV infection.

Sitting with his family at their Milnerton home, Sebastian did not seem to understand the seriousness of the situation.

The antiretrovirals have made him nauseous and tired, but to him it is a lot of fuss about a wound that has already started to heal.

Asked if he was scared, he shyly shook his head before running off to play with his brother and sister.

“He doesn’t know it could be a death sentence,” said his mother in a strained voice. “And we will only know in three months if he is okay. That’s when it can be detected.”

“It has really messed with our lives,” said his dad, Sean.

But the family is furious that the school is not taking it more seriously. They believe the entire episode could have been prevented, and blamed the school’s lack of security for what happened.

“Somebody should have seen them playing with the bag and taken it away. But they have no one, not even a teacher in the playground in the morning. Now look where we are,” said Justin.

The family do not want money; they want an apology and they want to see a drastic change in the way the school is run.

But the school’s principal, who was hesitant to comment and did not offer her name, said she was happy with the way the incident had been handled.

“We informed the parents and made sure the bag was disposed of.”

She said another child had also been pricked, and similar measures had been taken.

“This is not a case of illegal dumping – the police have told us that it must have come from someone’s car or been left there accidentally.”

The Western Cape education department’s spokesman Paddy Attwell said the Safe Schools division was investigating the incident.

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Cape Argus

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