Princess Margaret Hospital said a 24-year-old man had become infected after staying in the same ward cubicle as a 52-year-old hepatitis C carrier between April and May, with tests showing a link between the pair. “Genetic sequencing showed that both patients are infected with hepatitis C with identical genetic sequence,” a hospital spokesman said on Thursday night. “The two cases are epidemiologically linked and nosocomial infection of the 24-year-old male patient cannot be ruled out,” he said, referring to infections acquired during a hospital stay.
Hepatitis C is an infectious disease transmitted through blood, bodily fluids, or from a mother to child during labour. People who carried the virus could remain asymptomatic for decades after infection. About 0.
3 per cent of Hong Kong’s population were estimated to have been previously infected with hepatitis C. The hospital in Kwai Chung said the 24-year-old man was first admitted for treatment of a head injury on March 21, and was later transferred to a high dependency unit of the neurosurgery department on April 11. He tested negative for hepatitis C in a test performed in mid April, but returned a positive reading on June 15 following recordings of elevated liver enzymes.
The hospital said it was “very concerned” about the case as the man was staying in the facility during that period and authorities had looked into the possible route of transmission. The spokesman said the two patients required frequent use of.