SINGAPORE, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- A total 408 out of 473 screened patients have been tested negative for Hepatitis C after 22 patients have been diagnosed with the virus at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) earlier this month, said the SGH in a statement on Thursday.
SGH said it had screened 473 patients, with the results of 65 others remain pending. In the meantime, 277 out of the 282 staff screened also showed negative for Hepatitis C, the results of the remaining five staff are still pending.
Four have died possibly from the disease when SGH informed the public of the infection at a press conference last Tuesday.
SGH said that it has found an increase in the number of Hepatitis C virus infections in a renal ward in early June. After further inspection, SGH discovered that 22 patients have been infected in the same ward between April to June this year.
Initial investigation showed that "the source of infection might be due to intravenous (IV) injectable agents".
After the incident, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong requested relevant parties to learn from the experience to improve and do better in the future, asking the investigation to be "open and transparent" to the public.
