SGH lodges police report over hepatitis C outbreak

SINGAPORE — Singapore General Hospital (SGH) lodged a police report today (Oct 20) after an initial internal investigation failed to determine the cause of the recent hepatitis C outbreak.

“Currently, an Independent Review Committee appointed by MOH (Ministry of Health) is looking into this (the outbreak) with the help of international advisers. The police report has been filed so that the police may ascertain if there was any foul play,” the hospital said in a statement released tonight.

The first case of the outbreak, which has affected 22 patients in the hospital’s renal ward, was diagnosed on April 17. Eight of the 22 affected patients have died.

Among these deaths, five are possibly linked to hepatitis C infection.

The outbreak was made public on Oct 6. Two of the remaining 14 survivors are still warded.

In an update today, SGH said the results of 512 patients it has screened to check if they were affected by the outbreak have turned up negative.

The test results for 81 other patients are pending. Among the 296 staff it has screened, 294 have tested negative while test results for the other two are pending.

These patients and staff are among those who have passed through the affected renal ward from January to June this year.

Separately, the Health Ministry today appointed two international experts on board the Independent Review Committee “to strengthen its capabilities and provide additional technical and scientific input”.

The duo are Dr Scott Dewey Holmberg from the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Professor Trish Perl from Johns Hopkins University.

Dr Holmberg’s department at his institution specialises in national surveillance, outbreak investigations and research projects in viral hepatitis.

Prof Perl is in charge of putting in place mechanisms at her institution to prevent potential healthcare-associated infections.

The review committee has met three times since it was convened, and has been conducting ward visits, interviews with hospital staff and is also reviewing the care accorded to the cases.

Professor Leo Yee Sin, who chairs the committee, said the international experts will work closely with its local team and be actively involved in investigation processes to ensure that the processes taken are “thorough, independent and of the highest international standard”.

The MOH added: “The international experts will assist the committee in providing expert advice on analyses, interpretation and report of findings.”

The review committee has been organised into three teams: The Epidemiology Team, Quality Assurance and Infection Control Team, and Case Review Team.

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said tonight: “With the help of the international advisers, the Independent Review Committee will look into the cause of the cluster of hepatitis C infection in the Singapore General Hospital and identify gaps or weak points that need to be improved.”

He added: “Even as the IRC continues its work independently, we are not excluding any probable cause. Hence, SGH has made a police report of the incident. This will allow the police to investigate and ascertain if there was any foul play.”