Eight new cases have been identified in an outbreak of pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria and which killed six people in Tucuman (northwestern Argentina), cases still confined to the same clinic in August, announced Monday the health authorities “We include at least 8 new patients including a patient, two members of the health staff, and five caregivers of patients who had been hospitalized”, announced at a press conference the provincial Minister of Health Luis Medina. Ruiz. “There are no patients (of these pneumonias) who did not have a link with the private clinic in August, and these are the limits of the situation”, assured the minister, saying that the authorities now have “a little more certainty”. He reaffirmed that the bacteria is not transmitted from person to person, but “through inhalation of water vapour, air conditioning, showering when water is dispersed”. By extending the criterion to people who had a link with the clinic in August and presenting more or less serious symptoms, the balance sheet of the home is 6 dead, 4 hospitalized patients including two under respiratory assistance, and 9 treated at home, summarized Mr Ruiz Medina. Last week, six people died of aggressive bilateral pneumonia, which puzzled the medical profession, especially since initial examinations had ruled out Covid-19, influenza, influenza type A and B, and hantavirus (transmitted by rodents). The vast majority of patients — some with comorbidities — were members of the nursing staff of the same private clinic in San Miguel de Tucuman, and one was a 70-year-old patient who had undergone surgery in this clinic. (Belga)
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