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H7N9 virus
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Staff should have worn an N95 respirator and full face shield. Photo: Dickson Lee

Hong Kong hospital staff exposed to bird flu patient in quarantine

Five health-care workers are in quarantine after they treated an H7N9 bird flu patient without full protective gear.

H7N9 virus

Five health-care workers are in quarantine after they treated an H7N9 bird flu patient without full protective gear.

The staff at the Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam were caring for a 61-year-old man who was on Monday confirmed as the city's third bird flu patient this year. He is in critical condition.

The doctor, two nurses, operating theatre assistant and patient care assistant did not suspect the man had bird flu when he was admitted to the hospital.

"If they suspected H7N9, staff would have worn an N95 respirator and full face shield … they didn't know the patient had H7N9 and only wore the respirator, not the face shield," said Dr Vincent Cheng Chi-chung, an infection control officer and consultant at the Hospital Authority.

Twelve other people in close contact with the man - including a relative and patients who were in the same ward and private clinic he attended in Aberdeen - are also in quarantine at the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village in Sai Kung. They will be treated with antiviral drug Tamiflu for five days and the Centre for Health Protection is monitoring their condition. The health of 99 others - relatives, hospital and clinic staff and the patient's colleagues - who came into contact with the man is being monitored.

The man had visited the town of Zhangmutou in Dongguan, Guangdong, from February 6 to 8 and again from February 14 to 15, and bought two fresh chickens from a wet market there.

Meanwhile, another 18 seasonal flu patients died yesterday, bringing the death toll to 272. A nine-month-old boy is among the severe cases. The infant is in critical condition with a severe blood infection at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Staff exposed to bird flu patient in quarantine
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