An 8-year-old girl from the Chubut town of Cerro Centinela died of hantavirus after being referred to the Esquel hospital on Tuesday with “a case of systemic severity,” the provincial Ministry of Health reported.
The report highlights that the little girl was transferred from the rural Andean community of Cerro Centinela, located in the extreme northwest of Chubut, near the border with Chile, to the head hospital of the region, to which was admitted “presenting a cardiogenic shock that was not reversed despite the supportive treatment established in the pediatric therapy, and his death occurred today (for this Wednesday)”.
There is no vaccine against this virus yet.
The director of prevalent pathologies of the Ministry of Health explained that “currently, the local epidemiology teams, together with other services, are actively working on the coordination of actions to control the focus of this disease, identifying environmental risks and carrying out indications of isolation to the close contacts of the case”.
From the health portfolio it was highlighted that “At this time, the health teams in the area are also working on the approach and containment of the family, accompanying them in such a difficult time”.
What is hantavirus?
hantavirus is a severe acute viral illnesscaused by the Hanta virus, which sIt is transmitted by contact with the urine, saliva, and feces of rodents infected with the virus.
But the Andean variety can also be transmitted from person to person by close contact with patients in the initial period of the febrile illness or 48 hours before the first symptoms appear.
The symptom of hantaviruses are fever, muscle aches, chills, headaches, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea and in advanced cases respiratory distress.
The largest outbreak of this disease occurred at the end of 2018 with an epicenter in Epuyén, where 11 people died, there were 34 confirmed cases and 159 patients who had to be isolated.
That outbreak was declared “finished” by the health authorities of Chubut only in March 2019.
There is no vaccine yet that protects people against hantavirus.
