Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome in the Province of Rio Negro, Argentina, 1993-1996

Abstract

Early in 1995 the first case of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome was serologically confirmed in El Bolsón (Province of Río Negro, Argentina), corresponding to the third outbreak reported in Argentina. A total of 26 cases of HPS related to the Andean region of Rio Negro Province, were reported from 1993 to 1996, 17 in El Bolsón, 4 in San Carlos de Bariloche, and 5 in Buenos Aires. The incidence rate was 5.03 x 100,000 with a mortality rate of 51.85 x 100. The occurrence of cases was mainly seasonal, with a significantly greater number in the spring, and the persons affected mainly lived in urban or periurban areas. In four cases, the affected individuals were members of a couple, spouses or live-in contacts. Seven cases were Health workers (physicians, nurses or administrative staff). Twelve cases were related among them, due to an outbreak of 80 days. Two of them did not visit the Andean region. A total of 139 rodents were captured and seven of them, Olygoryzomys longicaudatus, were found to be serologically positive. The possibility of infection by contact with rodents or fecal matter is being analyzed and also hypothesis related with interhuman transmission.

Hantaviroses

“…O sexo masculino predominou, acometendo 80% dos indivíduos. Em 74 pacientes, onde os dados clínicos estiveram disponíveis, os sinais e os sintomas dominantes foram: febre (100%), dispnéia (81%), mialgias (78%), náuseas e vômitos (67%), cefaléia (75%), tosse (57%) e dor abdominal (50%); entre os dados laboratoriais, a hemoconcentração (Ht > 50%) ocorreu em 72% (44 / 61) e a trombocitopenia (< 150.000/mm 3 ) em 78% (39/50). Em 62 casos, onde a radiografia de tórax pôde ser analisada, observou-se em 50 deles, a presença de infiltrado intersticial e alveolar, em um ou em ambos os campos pulmonares.…”

Serological evidence of hantavirus infection in rural and urban regions in the state of Amazonas, Brazil

“…However, another form of hantavirus transmission of great epidemiological importance, from human to human, has been described on the American continent, especially in Argentina and Chile (Cantoni et al 1997, Zhang et al 2010. Between 1993-2010, more than 1,300 cases of HPCS have been reported in all the Brazilian regions, distributed throughout 14 states (MS/ SVS/DVE 2010).…”

"Estudo clínico-epidemiológico sobre a hantavirose na região de Ribeirão Preto, SP"

“…A letalidade por SPCVH no Brasil é de 46%, similar à observada no surto dos EUA em 1993, 58%, e na Argentina em 1996, 50% (Schmaljohn & Hjelle, 1997;Padula et al, 2000;Cantoni et al, 1997;Castillo et al, 2001).…”