University of Hong Kong microbiologist Siddharth Sridhar said on Monday that people do not have to panic over the city’s first group C rotavirus case.

His call came after three Princess Margaret Hospital doctors developed gastroenteritis in February, with one of them passing away.

Sridhar's reassurance came after his HKU colleague, Yuen Kwok-yung, revealed on a Commercial Radio programme that group C rotavirus had been detected in multiple samples from the deceased doctor.

Yuen said he believed that the virus infection had led to bouts of severe diarrhoea and high fever for the doctor.

Yuen said an HKU team looking into the incident also found another 29-year-old female patient carrying the group C rotavirus with similar genetic sequences. But no link was found between the two cases.

He said the patients in the two instances might have consumed undercooked seafood.

Yuen believes group C rotavirus infections have emerged in the community but that there is no large-scale outbreak so far.

Sridhar told RTHK that hospitals don't really test for group C rotavirus cases and that's why the number of cases is so small.

“There is no need for public alarm,” he said.

"This is a well-known virus and it is known to cause mild gastroenteritis in the most parts of the world."

Sridhar noted that there is no evidence showing the virus was the sole cause of the doctor’s death.

He suggested people should avoid eating undercooked food products and maintain good personal hygiene to avert an infection.