Speaking at the inaugural workshop of the Society for parents of thallassaemic patients, Dr M V Manglani who heads the pediatric haematology division at the LTMG hospital, Sion, made the startling observation that 40 out of 120 such patients who come for transfusion at Sion have tested positive for Hepatitis C. ``The only source of infection in their case is the blood that has been transfused,'' she said.

Thallasaemic children have to undergo a blood transfusion once every three weeks. Though most hospitals test the donated blood for HIV, Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C is seldom checked for. Following an uproar in New Delhi last year, the Central government issued a directive to the states calling for all blood banks to check for the virus.

Though the deadline set for the introduction of these tests was July1997, no government hospital has started them yet.

Once contracted, there is practically no treatment for Hepatitis C which affects the liver, though some drugs are known to suppress it. ``Our children already suffer from a terrible blood disorder, why should they suffer more for no fault of theirs,'' asked Anil Shah, secretary of the Society.