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Queen Mary Hospital will screen 58 patients for hepatitis C to rule out an outbreak of the infectious disease, after an investigation found – in a worldwide first – that a common reusable blood collection tool could have led to the virus being spread from its source, a drug addict who later died.
They identified the source of the primarily blood-borne virus as a deceased male drug addict who was at the public hospital at the same time and had been diagnosed with the same hepatitis C subtype.
“But even though the male patient and female were at Queen Mary Hospital at the same time, they stayed in two different wards away from each other due to their gender differences,” Yuen said, announcing the results of his investigation.
“We believe it was not likely for one of them to run into the other’s room and pass on the virus. So how did the infection happen? We thought the only connection between the two patients was the blood collection trolley, which travels around different wards.”
Yuen said his team finally discovered very tiny droplets of blood on a reusable plastic blood tube holder – which makes it easier to draw blood – and confirmed it contained the virus, which can stay alive on the material for as long as a month.
It was the first reported case in the world for the holder to cause infections in hospital, Yuen said.
“It is a very rare incident and had never been reported in the world. Many hospitals around the world use the same reusable holder,” he said.
“A disposable holder is only used in hospitals in some rich countries.”
Read complete article here: http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2139777/worldwide-first-hong-kong-hospital-probe-finds