Authorities from the Tucumán Epidemiology Directorate began to investigate five cases of pneumonia affecting workers at a private clinic, three of whom are hospitalized and one of them in serious condition, to determine the causative agent of the respiratory symptoms, reported today the provincial Ministry of Public Health.
The medical executive secretary of the Provincial Health System (Siprosa), Miguel Ferre Contrerasexplained that as determined by the Surveillance Department of the Epidemiology Directorate “three of the five patients are currently hospitalized: one in serious condition on a respirator and two outpatients.”
And, he noted that “after a series of studies that have been carried out on them, they have not indicated an etiological isolation, that is to say that The causes of the pneumonia that are ongoing have not yet been determined.“.
“As in all cases in which we see groups of people who present the same pathology and certain characteristics in common, Rigorous epidemiological studies are carried out to be able to take sanitary measures“, explained the specialist.
Ferre Contreras indicated that in this context “yesterday those patients who were in a state to do so were questioned, as well as their family groups, to determine the date of onset of symptoms and clinically categorize the disease, its evolution and the contacts of the people and environments in common.
Also, “information continues to be collected on a permanent basis and working in coordination with the private institution that brings together the infected workers,” he added, specifying that “samples were taken for different studies.”
“After a series of studies that have been carried out on them, they have not indicated an etiological isolation, that is, the causes of the pneumonia that they are undergoing have not yet been determined.”Miguel Ferre Contreras
“We still do not have results because they entered the laboratory yesterday afternoon and have different processing times, since it was decided not to set aside any suspicion and, in this way, numerous germs are being studied to reach some conclusion,” added the medical officer.
Regarding the precautions that must be taken, Ferre Contreras said that “since there is no etiological agent, the route of transmission has not yet been identified, which means that measures cannot be established to date.”
However, he clarified that “to the extent that we can identify this etiological agent, all the corresponding measures will be taken.”
“We want to convey the peace of mind that these cases can be quickly identified and studied because we have an Epidemiological Surveillance System in the province that is constantly alert, that works very well and has extensive experience in this type of situation,” he concluded.
In August 2022, at the Luz Médica private clinic in the city of San Miguel de Tucumán, there was an outbreak of bilateral pneumonia caused by Legionella, which affected 22 patients, six of whom died.
