Regarding an acute gastroenteritis incident involving three oncologists at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH), the Centre for Health Protection (CHP), having completed its investigation, confirmed today that the illnesses of the three doctors were not related.
On February 10, the CHP received a notification from PMH that three doctors in its oncology department had developed acute gastroenteritis symptoms, and one of them unfortunately passed away on February 7.
PMH’s preliminary investigation revealed that a stool sample from one of the doctors, who had mild symptoms, tested positive for Shiga toxin genes by nucleic acid testing. Hence, the hospital suspected that the cluster might be associated with Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infection.
The CHP immediately conducted a comprehensive epidemiological investigation with the help of an expert team led by Hong Kong University Chair of Infectious Diseases Prof Yuen Kwok-yung.
For the doctor suspected of having a STEC infection but with mild symptoms, the CHP found that the bacterial culture of the doctor’s stool sample did not grow any viable STEC bacteria.
Additionally, the CHP collected 34 environmental samples as well as 27 food samples from the oncology department and relevant food premises at PMH, all of which were negative for STEC.
The CHP also enhanced surveillance on the oncology department’s staff, and detected no other related cases.
Based on the available information, apart from confirming that there was no STEC outbreak in PMH’s oncology department, the CHP determined that there was no linkage between the illnesses of the three doctors.
Concerning the doctor’s cause of death, PMH’s pathology department conducted an autopsy and pathological examination, but the post-mortem examination could not determine the exact cause of the pathological changes that led to his death.
Separately, experts from the Hong Kong University Department of Microbiology detected group C rotavirus in various tissue samples of the deceased using nucleic acid testing. However, the virus was not detected in the stool samples of the other two doctors.
The experts were of the view that the initial acute gastroenteritis in the late doctor was caused by group C rotavirus. They also said that the direct relationship between group C rotavirus and the cause of death was uncertain, while other contributing factors could not be ruled out.
According to the Hospital Authority, there have been no deaths from rotavirus infection in public hospitals in the past 10 years, the CHP added.