Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, Chair of Infectious Disease at the Department of Microbiology, called on healthcare workers during a radio program today (Feb. 12) not to take antibiotics casually if they experience diarrhea.
"Instead, they should first check their stool to understand which medication may be helpful. If infected with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), taking antibiotics could worsen the condition and even lead to strange complications."
Among three doctors with diarrhea symptoms, two tested negative for STEC. Yuen explained that it is suspected they may have provided stool samples after taking antibiotics, which could explain the negative results.
Margaret Hospital's oncology department previously suspected an outbreak of STEC infections, involving three oncologists, one of whom is a young doctor who has passed away. Yuen emphasized that no possibilities are being ruled out, including the potential for other infections. He noted that since the deceased doctor was young and healthy, they will investigate other possibilities, such as whether it could be caused by chemical agents or even autoimmune diseases.
Yuen also mentioned that the shared restroom used by the three doctors could also be a transmission route. The Centre for Health Protection has collected numerous environmental samples, including from the restroom, to identify the transmission source. However, prior disinfection by the hospital may have reduced the chances of finding such sources. Additionally, the pathology department will conduct a cause-of-death investigation and extract tissue samples for examination.
Yuen does not rule out the possibility of other infections, but the likelihood of patients becoming infected is very low, as STEC is not airborne, and doctors practice hand hygiene before examining patients.
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