Hantavirus Andes: perfil de un asesino

Abstract

Hantaviruses are viruses with a worldwide distribution that are maintained in nature by infecting rodents, which constitute their natural reservoirs. Infection in humans manifests as two entities: Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (FHSR) caused by the Old World virus and Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS). The first cases of HPS in the southern Andean region were identified in 1995 (Lázaro and Resa, 1997; Lázaro et. Al. 2000). The causative agent turned out to be a Nobel hantavirus called Andes virus (ANDV) and it is, to date, the only genotype characterized in the region (López et. Al. 1996; Padula et. Al. 2000). In 1996 there was an outbreak of HPS originating in El Bolsón that affected family groups and health workers. Epidemiological and molecular studies confirmed person-to-person transmission of the Andes virus that caused the outbreak, a fact that had never been observed before for other hantaviruses in the world.