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Published Date: 2011-05-17 19:22:28
Subject: PRO/EDR> Respiratory syncytial virus - Argentina: (CN)
Archive Number: 20110517.1499

RESPIRATORY SYNCYTIAL VIRUS - ARGENTINA: (CORRIENTES)
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Date: Mon 16 May 2011
Source: El Litoral [In Spanish, machine translation,edited]
http://www.el-litoral.com.ar/leer_noticia.asp?IdNoticia=162817

Respiratory syncytial virus: pediatric cases blocking beds
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The warning regarding the increase in number of respiratory cases
came from the director of the Juan Pablo II hospital, Albert
Braverman, on Friday [13 May 2011], who stated that some elective
surgery had been postponed because so many beds had been occupied by
these respiratory patients. In this regard, the pediatric infectious
disease specialist, Andrea Gajo Gane, who works in the same hospital,
told El Litoral that the problem had been created by the increased
number of RSV infection patients. This increase is unexpected because
such patients are normally admitted during the months of June or July
[the peak of the southern hemisphere winter. - Mod.CP] when RSV
infection is at its height.

The treatment of such patients includes the supply of oxygen, such
that many children must remain hospitalized. "RSV infection causes a
disease for which there is no specific antiviral treatment, so it is
necessary to administer nebulization [using vaporizers] and oxygen and
bed blocking is an inevitable consequence", explained Gajo. To avoid
this situation, he recommended that parents take measures similar to
those adopted during the Influenza A (H1N1) epidemic. "You need to
keep rooms ventilated and adopt hygienic hand-care," he said.

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[RSV infection normally peaks in the middle of the northern and
southern hemisphere winters. The current outbreak in Argentina is
atypical in its early appearance. It will be interesting in due course
to characterise the genotype of this 2011 virus.

In 1999 natural isolates of RSV group B (HRSV-B) with a 60-nucleotide
(nt) duplication in the G protein gene appeared in Buenos Aires,
Argentina (A. Trento et al., J. Gen. Virol. 84:3115-3120, 2003).
Subsequently, during the next 10 years, this virus, designated group
BA, became disseminated world-wide and replaced the previously
ubiquitous B-type virus (See: Ten years of global evolution of the
human respiratory syncytial virus BA genotype with a 60-nucleotide
duplication in the G protein gene. J Virol. 2010 Aug;84(15):7500-12)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20504933. It is still unclear
how and why this virus genotype spread globally from Argentina.

Characterisation of the virus associated with the current outbreak in
Argentina may provide some clues. - Mod.CP

The interactive HealthMap/ProMED map for Argentina is available at:
http://healthmap.org/r/008K - CopyEd.EJP]

See Also