By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

The Ministry of Health of the Nation reports that the ANLIS Malbrán Institute confirmed the isolation of two new cases of the Delta variant in travelers from Barcelona, ​​Spain, and the city of Miami, United States. In this way, the national reference laboratory identified a total of seven cases of Delta variant in travelers since April and has four positive samples derived from Hospital Gutiérrez under investigation for confirmation.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

The first confirmed case is a 38-year-old traveler, a resident of the City of Buenos Aires, who entered the country on June 28, 2021, from Barcelona with a negative PCR test prior to the flight, and upon arrival in the country. it was positive in the antigen test that is carried out as an admission control. Currently, the passenger -referring to have stayed 25 days in Spain- is doing his isolation in the hotel derived from Ezeiza.

It should be noted that the passenger shared a trip with another 39-year-old person -also resident of CABA-, who presented a negative result in the antigen test carried out in Ezeiza on June 28, but began with a fever on July 1 with positive diagnostic test. This is a person who lives alone, does not have close contacts and is fulfilling isolation.

According to the epidemiological investigation carried out by the health authorities to the passengers who shared a flight, 5 close contacts were detected (two with domicile in CABA, two in the province of Buenos Aires and one in the province of Santa Fe), of the which 3 show negative PCR on the seventh day uploaded to the national surveillance system. The jurisdictions are conducting the corresponding investigations.

As for the second confirmed case, it is a 30-year-old traveler also resident in CABA, who arrived from Miami on June 23. He had a negative pre-flight PCR test and an antigen test performed on arrival in the country, also negative. On June 29, a follow-up PCR test was performed and in that instance it was positive.

In this case, the patient -who lives alone in his home where he performs the isolation- reported having been vaccinated on June 12 with the Johnson & Johnson Janssen vaccine. On June 25, he began with symptoms -a sore throat and cough-, which he attributed to the change of climate and only when the PCR test was performed on the seventh day of isolation did he test positive. Currently, the patient remains in isolation and did not report close contacts.

An investigation was also carried out on the passengers who shared the flight and 13 close contacts were detected -5 from CABA and 8 from the province of Buenos Aires- of which 4 presented a negative test on the seventh day, loaded into the National Surveillance System. Meanwhile, the jurisdictions are conducting the corresponding investigations.

Finally, in relation to the four Delta variant isolates in travelers who performed PCR control tests on the seventh day in the Gutiérrez Hospital laboratory, they are being analyzed by the national reference laboratory for confirmation, and have been initiated the corresponding investigations.