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Although definitive answers remain in short supply, it is encouraging that Argentine Health Ministry officials continue to provide frequent updates on their investigation into the cluster of unidentified pneumonia cases in a Tucumán hospital.
According to today's update, no new cases (n=9) have been identified, and the number of deaths (n=3) remains unchanged since yesterday.
There's been some chatter on the internet about the statement ". . . the minister confirmed that at the moment there are nineteen hospitalized patients in the private clinic, some in intensive care and others in common rooms. . . ", but there are no indications that these patients have been infected, only that they remain hospitalized in the private clinic (currently closed) where the outbreak began.
For now, we are reduced to watching and waiting for the lab results to reveal the cause, or for more cases to appear.
The full (translated) statement from the MOH follows.
OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT 2 September, 2022
Current situation of the Bilateral Pneumonia outbreak in the province
During the morning of today, the head of the health portfolio, Dr. Luis Medina Ruiz, together with the Medical Executive Secretary, Dr. Miguel Ferre Contreras, gave a press conference from Government House to update the population on this problem.
"We want to announce that, regarding the cases of bilateral pneumonia with unknown etiology and under investigation, we continue with nine patients, there are no more people added to the list", assured the minister.
And he continued: ¨The novelty is that we have a patient who, yesterday, at night, was discharged, hospitalized and continues to be observed at home due to her clinical condition. At this time we have three patients who are still hospitalized, of which two are on mechanical ventilation and one on non-invasive ventilation; All three in serious condition. The other three patients are in an outpatient condition with less serious follow-up and, unfortunately, three have died¨.
In this sense, Medina Ruiz assured: ¨We continue to investigate the etiology of this health problem, we have an alert activated in both public and private services, where any patient who has an epidemiological link, such as a health worker from this Private sanatorium that presents a respiratory condition, enters a suspicion protocol where a follow-up will be carried out with tomography, laboratory, to confirm or rule out that it can enter this group¨.
Within the framework of the intense investigation that the Ministry of Public Health is carrying out, the minister had a virtual meeting last night with the Minister of Health of the Nation, Dr. Carla Vizzotti , references with vast experience in this type of problems and authorities of the Malbrán Institute, with whom they are constantly in communication to provide a prompt solution to the case.
¨We received information that the studies that are being done so far are negative for bacteria and viruses that are being investigated. In any case, there are studies that require cultures, so they require a little more time¨, explained the official. Meanwhile, he added that when the results are negative, another study is sought that is more sensitive and complex, which sometimes takes longer to perform.
"Surely in the course of the day we will have other results, the idea is to continue working on the investigation of the cause and we will continue looking for epidemiological links," said the official.
On the other hand, the minister confirmed that at the moment there are nineteen hospitalized patients in the private clinic, some in intensive care and others in common rooms: "We from the Ministry of Public Health have formed teams that are going to support and evaluate the epidemic situation of the patients. They are working on the control of internees, they are analyzing the epidemiological links and they are analyzing everything related to environmental health; We do not leave any edge uncovered. He also added that, so far, they have not found any pathogens in the water and the results of chemical tests are pending.
Regarding the time in which new patients can present some symptomatology, the head of the health portfolio said that, whenever it is a viral or bacterial disease, the process time can last between seven and fourteen days, a time that Health it will take to wait if any new patients show up.
¨All this began around August 20 and during all this time no person with a direct work relationship with the sanatorium appeared, but, since we do not know the precise etiology, we must wait a little longer, at least seven more days. ¨, asserted the minister.
¨What we are doing with all patients is supportive treatment, regardless of the etiology, through a basic protocol that includes maintaining oxygenation and blood pressure stable enough so that the heart, brain and all organs remain preserved. ¨, he continued.
Regarding how the isolation of the private center will be acted upon, Medina Ruiz said that this will depend on the patients that may arise today and over the weekend: ¨The determination will be made based on what is happening until now. Tuesday.
¨The fact that there are no more infected encourages us to think that it is an infectious agent that does not have a great power of contagion. Usually all viruses, bacteria and fungi have the ability to spread through a medium; This, apparently, is a case that does not produce significant contagion, or the other possibility is that it is a contagious germ with a longer incubation period, he extended.
For this reason, the minister asserted: ¨We are constantly having meetings at the national level and we have the full support of institutions of national and international prestige to reach the result of the etiology. It is essential that the information on this topic is carried out in an official and formal manner. The greatest risk occurs when there is too much misinformation and it creates panic in society.
Finally, Medina Ruiz assured that the health control carried out by Siprosa at the level of the personnel, as well as the health of the place, will be reinforced in this situation.
