By NewsDesk  @bactiman63

In a follow-up on a report at the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Public Health reports that 5 positive cases of hantavirus infection were registered in Salta province, since the beginning of 2021. Of the total number of people affected by the virus, there was one death.

IMage/CIA

The infected people reside in Oran, Colonia Santa Rosa, General Mosconi and Hipólito Yrigoyen. Three of the patients are female and two are male.

The Ministry of Public Health especially recommends that the population living in rural areas keep their homes and vacant lots clean, in order to avoid the presence of rodents, which are those that transmit hantavirus, as well as block holes in doors, walls and pipes, where they can enter.

Hantavirus infection is a serious acute viral disease, which is transmitted by voles, through their saliva, feces and urine and for which there is no vaccine.

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The most frequent cause of transmission is inhalation, when breathing in places where infected mice, through their secretions, have contaminated the environment with the Hanta virus.

The disease can also be transmitted by direct contact, by touching infected rodents, live or dead, or their feces or urine. The least common form of transmission is the bite of mice.

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The symptoms of hantavirus can be confused with a flu-like state, with the presence of fever, muscle pain, chills, headache. These symptoms can be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Later, there may be respiratory distress with serious complications.