At least two cases of people contracting the deadly HIV infection after getting tattoos have emerged at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, which has sounded the alarm against visiting cheap tattoo parlours.

According to Dr Preeti Agarwal of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Hospital, after careful examination and counselling, it was learned that  the HIV patients had got tattoos made following which their health started deteriorating.

A 20-year-old man from Baragaon and a 25-year-old woman from Nagma are among 14 people who fell sick. Several tests were conducted including that of viral typhoid malaria which turned out to be negative. When the fever did not come down, HIV tests were done in which they were found positive for the disease.

After examining the details, it was found that the HIV positive patients had contracted the disease sexually or through infected blood. The one thing that was common between the patients was they had all got tattoos made recently.

A probe into the matter also revealed that the infected persons had got tattoos made from the same person who used the same needle on all of them. According to Dr Agarwal, tattoo needles are expensive so tattoo artists often use the same needles to save money.