Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in Argentina. Possibility of person to person transmission

Abstract

In March 1995 the first case of a familiar outbreak of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) was notified in El Bolson, in the South of Argentina. Until December 15, 1996, a total of 77 cases of HPS had been notified with 48% mortality, distributed in three geographical areas of the country, South, North and Center. During 1996, of the 19 cases from El Bolsón, three were local physicians, one of whom -during the prodrome of her illness- travelled to Buenos Aires to be attended. In the hospital, two of the physicians who assisted her, developed HPS 27 and 28 days after the first contact. These data suggest for the first time the possibility of interhuman transmission of the Hantavirus responsible for the pulmonary syndrome.