An Italian woman who contracted the AIDS virus at the University of Geneva where she was carrying out scientific research as part of the Erasmus program, obtained compensation of 145,000 euros after an agreement from the Swiss establishment, said Wednesday the Italian University of Padua (North) on which it depended.
The Italian, whose identity remains confidential, carried out a study exchange in 2011 at the University of Geneva according to Corriere del Veneto.
She had to carry out research to complete her thesis and had worked in a laboratory at the University of Geneva using samples of the AIDS virus.
She discovered she had HIV eight years later
Returning to Italy, she continued a normal life until 2019, when, during an examination to be able to donate blood, she discovered that she was positive for the AIDS virus.
However, the mystery remains regarding how she contracted it.
Italian laboratories conclude, on the basis of genetic sequencing, that the virus carried by the young woman “is identical to those which were designed in the laboratory” in Geneva.
In support of these conclusions, she began a legal battle which ultimately ended with an amicable agreement preventing any legal action and compensation, the University of Padua said.