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A spokesman for the Department of Health (DH) today (August 16) provided an update on the test results of blood samples of infants aged one to eight months who have been taking infant milk formulae with low iodine content. Further to the 99 blood samples tested last week, six more samples have been tested and results were made available today. Five of the test results were normal while one revealed that the thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) level was slightly above the reference range although its thyroxine (free T4) level was normal.
The spokesman said, "The Hospital Authority (HA) specialists and the DH have preliminarily reviewed the case history. The infant concerned has been predominately breastfed till now and only consumed Morinaga infant formula occasionally. Given the dietary history, the cause of elevated TSH is less likely due to the infant formula concerned and the cause requires further investigation."
The DH has informed the parent of the test result and the infant concerned has been referred to the HA paediatric specialist clinic for follow-up.
The latest update took the total number of blood samples taken for thyroid function tests to 105, of which 103 were normal. Apart from the above-mentioned result that is over the TSH reference range, another result made available earlier revealed that the TSH level was slightly below the reference range and the infant concerned was also referred to the paediatric specialist clinic of the HA for follow-up.
Ends/Thursday, August 16, 2012
Issued at HKT 18:55
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