Thanks to Giuseppe Michieli for tagging me in a tweet about this news release from the Ministry of Public Health in the province of Tucumán, Argentina: El ministerio de Salud Pública informó sobre la situación sanitaria del brote de neumonía bilateral (Ministry of Public Health reports on the health situation of the outbreak of bilateral pneumonia). Excerpt from the Google translation, lightly edited:
In a new press conference, the head of the Health Portfolio, Dr. Luis Medina Ruiz, reported the death of a 70-year-old patient and the identification of 3 employees of the sanatorium experiencing the same outbreak.
In this regard, the minister announced: “The sanatorium informed us of the death of a 70-year-old patient who was hospitalized there, we needed the family to know first to be able to communicate it. In addition, we identified 3 more employees of the private agent who began with symptoms around August 20 to 23 (that is, they correspond to the same outbreak and place of contagion in principle). That is why at this moment 3 more people are added to the 6 initial patients”.
Regarding the 70-year-old patient who died today, the minister stated: “She was hospitalized and she underwent surgery for a gallbladder problem. She was re-operated twice. From then on, an infectious pulmonary disease took place, the date of which coincides with the onset of symptoms in the other patients, around August 20. Although it is not yet clear which came first, at first she was considered patient zero, but she is under study based on the deepening of the analyses that are being carried out”.
At the same time he added: “We informed about the 3 identified employees. One of them is a 40-year-old pharmacy assistant and she was hospitalized a few days ago in a public hospital with a fever. In the active search that we are carrying out, especially in health personnel, we detected that it is a person who has non-severe bilateral pneumonia with an oxygen requirement under study. The other person is a 44-year-old nurse; she is at her home and we are following her evolution, since her clinical condition does not warrant hospitalization. The third case is a 30-year-old nurse with comorbidities, who was admitted to hospital this morning. His symptoms began around the same days and on the date he was present to be evaluated, at which time we decided to hospitalize him."
Following this line, the official explained that these three people have bilateral pneumonia as a clinical characteristic and have in common the origin of the focus, the epidemiological link with the 6 initial patients. The criterion of incorporating them as suspected patients to the outbreak in principle is based on the employment relationship with the sanatorium, bilateral pneumonia and that with all the study panels its etiology has not yet been found.
“Last night and this morning we had information from the Malbrán Institute and so far all the studies that we had as negative -for Covid, Hantavirus and some strains of Legionella- are also giving negative results there. We continue to carry out the research protocol for blood cultures, sputum cultures, urine cultures and all the viruses and bacteria that we have available in the province. We are in direct communication with Minister Carla Vizzotti, who is available, as well as all the epidemiology and infectious disease teams of the Nation, we are working as a large medical board in which we all participate with the information we have, there are hypotheses of the etiology that are being put on the table, although what we have specifically is the common origin and evolution of the disease”, he added.
