No new hepatitis C cases, says SGH

Singapore General Hospital (SGH) said it has not uncovered any new cases of hepatitis C after running a series of tests on patients and staff feared to have been exposed to the blood-borne virus.

In a statement by the hospital yesterday, it said that 473 out of 678 patients have been screened. These patients were admitted to wards 64A and 67 at SGH from January to June.

Of those who have been screened, 408 have tested negative and the patients have been informed. The results of the remaining 65 patients are pending.

Also, 282 out of 319 staff have been screened, SGH said in its statement. The results of 277 of them are ready, and they have all tested negative too.

Last week, SGH revealed that 22 kidney patients had contracted hepatitis C infections while receiving treatment in the hospital. Eight of the patients have died and five of the deaths could be linked to the infection.

The Health Ministry has since launched a separate investigation of the matter.

The Independent Review Committee will be investigating how the hepatitis C infections occurred.

This article was first published on October 16, 2015.
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