First Hantavirus Case Resulting in Death in Panama (In Two Years)!

According to the Ministry of Health (MINSA) in Los Santos, Panama, the first case of hantavirus (in over 2 years) was reported just earlier this month (1). 

A 47 year old woman sought medical care at the Joaquín Pablo Fran Hospital on Wednesday, Dec 6. She was transferred to the Anita Moreno Hospital in La Villa, after her symptoms worsened and she needed access to a ventilator (1).

According to the patient, she began experiencing fever, headache, a dry cough, and difficulty breathing starting on Friday Dec 1st (1).

Unfortunately, according to the MINSA Director of Epidemiology in Los Santos, her symptoms worsened quickly, and she passed on Friday, Dec 7th (1).

More information on Hantavirus:

Hantavirus is a  tripartite ROBO virus with a -ssRNA genome (2). It has a 30-40% mortality rate. There is a vaccine available, but it is only effective against certain strains (mostly those present in East Asia). The only people who are typically vaccinated against this virus are military personnel of South Korea (3). 

-EM

Sources
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3185593/
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3185593/
3. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/10/12/pdfs/04-0684.pdf
4. http://www.minsa.gob.pa/