Hong Kong patient contracts hepatitis C during hospital stay in suspected transmission case

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 carrying 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.