technical teams of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), engineers and professional epidemiologists of the Ministry of Health of the Nation continue to work on the taking samples from the private clinic in the Tucuman capital where an outbreak of bilateral pneumonia caused by Legionella was recordedwhich affected 22 patients, of whom six died, official sources reported Thursday.
A group of experts made up of “PAHO technical teams, together with engineers and epidemiologists from the National Ministry of Health,” continue to work at the Luz Médica Sanatorium, located at 900 Marcos Paz, the local media said. Provincial Minister of Health, Luis Medina Ruiz.
The official indicated that “everything has its protocol, and we work on scientific evidence. We are with the presence of experts worldwide making the diagnosis and active search, taking samples and processing them,” after which he said that the professionals “will stay until Friday”.
Regarding the operation of the clinic – which is closed and whose patients were transferred – he maintained that “there will be no authorization until one hundred percent is sure that the bacteria is no longer there.”
As for the patients, the head of the Health portfolio pointed out that they currently add “22 of which 12 are outpatients with telephone monitoring of the Ministry of Health and the Provincial Health System (Siprosa)four are still hospitalized, two of them are with mechanical respiratory assistance and six died.
“With regard to the current epidemiological situation, we continue with the surveillance of health agents or patients, this surveillance will be carried out until the completion of 16 days from September 3,” added Medina Ruiz.
Last Tuesday, the Public Prosecutor’s Office carried out an ocular inspection which had “the purpose of investigating a denounced fact and determining if there were criminal responsibilities,” said prosecutor Pedro Gallo in charge of the measure.
It also indicated that “the procedure seeks to investigate the denounced event and others that may have occurred” and maintained that “the progress of the investigation will be subject to the results that emerge from the different pieces of evidence.”
The Scientific Team of Fiscal Investigations (ECIF) participated in the place, which carried out a planimetric survey and photographic report, both inside and outside.
Documentation on paper and in digital format was also accessed, however, until now the results of this measure have not been known.
the outbreak
enter the On August 20 and 23, a group of six patients, including health personnel from the clinic, began to show symptoms of bilateral pneumonia of unknown origin.
Days later, new cases were added, all of them corresponding “to the same outbreak and the same place of contagion.”
At that time, the provincial health authorities indicated that the patients “were investigated for Covid, flu, influenza A and B, hantavirus and a panel with FilmArray to rule out 25 germs, all of which were negative.”
Based on these negative results, samples were taken and sent to the National Administration of Laboratories and Health Institutes (Anlis) Dr. Carlos Malbrán “to carry out a diagnostic expansion.”
Last Saturday, the Minister of Health of the Nation, Carla Vizzotti, reported that in four samples sent to Malbrán “three respiratory and a puncture biopsy of one of the deceased, A bacterium that caused the outbreak of bilateral pneumonia in Tucumán, which is called Legionella, is being isolated in the PCR.
The head of the National Health portfolio explained that “it is a bacterium that is transmitted by inhalation through water or air conditioning.”
“It has antibiotic treatment and significant resistance in people at risk, over 50 years of age, smokers, diabetics and people with immunocompromise or respiratory diseases,” he explained.
