(MENAFN- Arab News) Jeddah Health Affairs have confirmed that an error owing to a misprint in a citizen's report has wrongly diagnosed him of being infected with AIDS.

King Abdulaziz Hospital in Jeddah gave Hassan Ismael a report which stated that he had AIDS but about three months later he received a second report affirming his excellent health condition. Press spokesman Abdulrahman Al-Sahafi said Hassan had been given a wrong diagnosis and that those responsible would be punished.

He explained that the patient was first admitted to the emergency unit of the hospital in 2013 and was hospitalized for four days. He was suffering from breathing problems and had fever. The attending doctors suspected a number of infections including HIV but test results showed that he was suffering from hepatitis C or a liver infection. However the patient was told he had AIDS before leaving the hospital.

Sahafi added that the patient was given a discharge summary stating his health and follow-up appointments but he didn't show up. When he came back in late 2014 he demanded to see his consultant and inform her that there was a mistake in his report.

Following a review of his medical records which confirmed that Hassan was not infected with HIV the hospital's administration embarked on an investigation to ensure that the medical error would not be repeated in the future.

The committee decided to punish those responsible for the mistake after the completion of the investigation and a letter was written to the deputy director of social insurance in Makkah with the correct report attached to it.