Student receives compensation in Geneva after HIV infection
Published: Wednesday, Feb 28th 2024, 19:50
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The University of Geneva (Unige) will compensate an Italian student who was infected with the HI virus during research work in one of its laboratories in 2011. The two parties have signed an agreement that ends a legal dispute.
The parties involved wanted to end the ongoing legal proceedings for the sake of peace, a spokesperson for the university told the Keystone-SDA news agency on Wednesday. He confirmed information that had been published by the University of Padua (I). According to the information, the compensation amounts to around 140,000 francs.
The settlement, which is currently being finalized, does not include any acknowledgement of responsibility or claims by either party, the spokesperson added.
According to the media, the Italian student had completed a study exchange in Geneva in 2011 as part of the European university program Erasmus. She was supposed to conduct research to complete her dissertation and worked in a laboratory with samples of the HI virus. This is a known sexually transmitted virus and can cause the immunodeficiency disease AIDS.
Mysterious transmission
After returning to Italy, the student led a normal life until 2019, when she found out that she had tested positive for HIV during a test before donating blood. However, it remained a mystery as to how she contracted the virus.
Based on gene sequencing, Italian laboratories came to the conclusion that the virus carried by the young woman was "identical to the viruses generated in the laboratory in Geneva", the newspaper wrote. In order to substantiate these conclusions, it began a legal dispute that ultimately ended with an out-of-court settlement.
©Keystone/SDA
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