The first victim, known only as Wala’a, allegedly caught the disease after being admitted to Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) two months ago.
Another Bahraini woman earlier accused doctors of negligence after her daughter, who has not been identified, also got the infection.
She claimed her daughter had regular blood tests at the hospital, but doctors failed to discover the infection.
Both victims were 18.
The Health Ministry yesterday said it was investigating the cases with the Public Health Directorate and the Blood Bank.
“The ministry will follow the procedures taken in both cases since their admission at the SMC until they were diagnosed with the disease,” it said in a statement.
The ministry said it follows all necessary medical procedures to international standards.
“All precautions during blood transfusion are taken to ensure non-contaminated blood is only used,” it said.
“In case of suspicion, the Blood Bank gets rid of the sample immediately.”
The ministry stressed the Blood Bank provided blood to all government and private hospitals and there had not been any recorded Hepatitis C infection cases.
“Hepatitis C has other ways of transmitting than blood transfusion,” added the statement.
The father of Wala’a, who did not want to be named, welcomed the probe.
“We have been calling for an urgent investigation to determine how my daughter got infected,” he said.
He revealed he was still waiting for the results of a blood sample, which had been sent to France for further tests.
“I have also yet to meet the doctor who is supposedly treating my daughter,” he said.
The GDN reported last month that Health Minister Dr Faisal Al Hamer pledged to ensure a full medical service was provided to Wala’a.
He also reportedly requested to refer the daughter’s case to the officials and staff concerned at the SMC.
The teenager was admitted to the SMC at the end of July for blood transfusion.
Transfusion
She suffered a high fever following the procedure and a doctor requested a blood test to determine the cause, according to her father.
It was revealed two weeks later that her blood tested positive for Hepatitis C.
Following a meeting with a top official at the hospital, a blood sample was requested to be sent to France for further tests.
However, the sample was allegedly lost before it was sent.
Families of sickle cell patients earlier called for an immediate investigation following the incident.
The Bahrain Society for Sickle Cell Anaemia Patient Care said they wanted to know how the disease was transmitted, whether due to an infected needle or from the blood.
Gulf Daily