Sunday Times (Johannesberg) - Sunday October 14, 2001
Edwin Lombard

The distraught nurse, Theresa Weber, has since been put on a course of the anti-HIV medication AZT, and is being counselled by psychologists as she sits out the six-month window period until she can be conclusively tested for the virus.

In the meantime, the man who bit her claimed this week he was unaware he was HIV-positive and had not been informed of his status by Cape Town's Groote Schuur Hospital, where the incident occurred.

The hospital refused to comment on his claims, but did confirm the biting incident. A spokesman at Vincent Pallotti, the hospital at which Weber was treated after being bitten, told the Sunday Times that it had been informed by Groote Schuur that the patient who bit her had tested HIV-positive.

Speaking from his home this week, the 36- year-old Langa TV repair man said he was sorry for what had happened.

He said he had been admitted to hospital a month before the incident after vomiting blood and suffering from diarrhoea. He said doctors had told him he had alcohol-related liver problems. On the day of the incident, he had suffered from withdrawal symptoms and recalled biting only his key ring. "I can't remember biting the sister."

He said he had undergone a blood test after the biting incident, but added: "I am absolutely sure that I was never told that I was HIV-positive."

Weber said she had intervened to help when she saw other staff struggling with the man.

"The patient was confused and very aggressive. He was bleeding from his throat.

"Four security guards, two nurses and the sister in charge of the ward were pinning him down but couldn't cope. He had a bunch of keys on a piece of Perspex in his mouth.

"The nurses were trying to get it out of his mouth, but he was very strong. The Perspex was cutting the inside of his mouth and I was afraid that he would drown in his blood."

Weber put her left index finger in his mouth to try to squeeze the piece of plastic out but he bit on it.

"I was screaming for dear life, but nobody could do anything," she said. "People were pulling on me but my finger was stuck in his mouth. I wanted to faint and someone caught me. He then just spat the finger out. One of the nurses got hold of the piece of finger and put it in a bucket of ice."

Weber was initially treated at Groote Schuur but a microsurgeon was not available to operate and she was transferred to the nearby Vincent Pallotti Hospital.

Her finger was reattached in a four-hour operation but had to be amputated a week later.

Sandy Sampson, clinical coordinator at Vincent Pallotti, said they had phoned Groote Schuur to do a blood test on the man and were informed the next day that he was HIV-positive.

"One of our counsellors informed Weber . . . and she was immediately put on medication and counselling."

Weber said she was devastated by the news. "I was suicidal. I didn't think the patient could be HIV-positive."

An initial test on Weber showed her to be HIV-negative.

Weber said she was depressed, had lost weight and was constantly tired and nauseous from the AZT.

This week, Groote Schuur spokesman Philipa Johnson would only confirm that Weber's finger had been bitten by a patient.

Pressed on why the hospital had not told the patient of his HIV status, Johnson said it was "not permitted to enter into any discussion in the media concerning confidential patient information. . ."

Liezel Guntholtz, a lawyer at the Aids Law Project in Johannesburg, said it was unlawful to fail to inform the patient of his HIV status.

A spokesman for the Health Ministry, Sibani Mngadi, said that, if the hospital had acted unlawfully, the Western Cape Health Department would have to investigate. But a provincial Health Department spokesman, Ossie Gibson, said they could only investigate if the patient laid a complaint.

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