Five infected with hepatitis E after receiving organs from same Hong Kong woman
Hospital in touch with affected recipients, in what is thought to be the first case of its kind in the city
Five people who received transplanted organs from the same donor have been infected with hepatitis E, a Hong Kong hospital revealed on Monday, in what was thought to be the first case of its kind in the city.
A Queen Mary Hospital spokeswoman said staff had received a report from the University of Hong Kong’s department of microbiology on Monday saying several patients who received organs in February had all been infected with the potentially deadly virus.
“The suspected infection channel was donated organs,” the spokeswoman said.
The hospital told the Hospital Authority and the Centre for Health Protection about the case and has been in contact with the affected patients to provide assistance and treatment.
It was confirmed today that the donor is a 29-year-old young woman who died at Princess Margaret Hospital on February 27 and her family donated her organs on February 28.