646 out of 678 patients contacted for hepatitis C screening

SINGAPORE — Nearly all the 678 patients who could have been exposed to the hepatitis C viral outbreak at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) have been contacted to go for screenings, with 32 yet to be reached.

In a statement today (Oct 9), SGH said it has managed to contact 646 of these patients, of whom 585 have set appointments for their tests. So far, 186 patients, as well as 202 out of 273 hospital employees who had worked at the ward where the virus outbreak occurred, have been screened.

Results of these tests are available after a week. The hepatitis C virus has an incubation period of between two weeks and six months.

The 678 patients comprise all of those who had been admitted to the affected ward from January to June this year. The outbreak has infected 22 patients, with the first case being detected on April 17.

Eight of the 22 affected patients have died. Among these deaths, four are linked to the virus infection, while a fifth is under review. Two of the remaining 14 survivors are still hospitalised.

Since Tuesday, when the outbreak was made public, 181 patients who did not stay in the renal ward during that period have also made enquiries about the hepatitis C cluster, said an SGH spokesperson.

“The hospital reassured them that patients in other wards and visitors need not be screened as the hepatitis C virus is not air-borne,” she added.