The man from Arad infected with hantavirus does not have the strain with human-to-human transmission, announced the Cantacuzino Institute. Eight patients from the Ştei Psychiatric Hospital have been isolated as they were contacts of the diagnosed man. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health’s inspection identified several deficiencies.
The hantavirus infection, transmitted by rodents, confirmed in the case of the man from Ştei Hospital, is not the variant with human-to-human transmission, as announced by the Cantacuzino Institute, which analyzed the patient’s samples.
"The case has no connection with the outbreak identified on the cruise ship with the Andes virus (Hantavirus) circulating only in South America," announced INSP on Monday. The patient is stable, conscious, and cooperative.
Eight patients from the Ştei Psychiatric and Safety Measures Hospital, where a case of hantavirus infection was identified, have been isolated as contacts of the already diagnosed man.
The source cited by News.ro mentions that the first cases of Hantaan virus infection were recorded in Arad County in 2005. At that time, the Cantacuzino Institute conducted serological investigations on professional groups at risk, collecting 115 serological samples from foresters in the counties of Argeş, Arad, Mureş, Harghita, Covasna, and Bistriţa-Năsăud. The seroprevalence rate was 6.08%, considered similar to those found in people at risk in neighboring countries, as mentioned by INSP.
On the other hand, the State Sanitary Inspection found several issues:
- deficiencies in rodent control activities;
- essential information was missing in the intervention documents, such as the product batch used and the biocide approval;
- non-compliance with sanitary standards in high-risk contamination areas;
- unhygienic surfaces in the food block;
- inadequate storage conditions;
- exceeding the approved capacity of the unit, with 319 patients admitted compared to 314 functional beds
Fines totaling 5,000 lei were imposed, and measures were taken to prevent the spread of infection and to address the non-conformities:
- relocating the 8 patient contacts of the case to an isolated area, organized in core-type lounges with separate circuits, to protect other patients and medical staff.
- contact persons will remain under surveillance and quarantine for a period of 21 days.
Sanitary inspectors are also conducting an inspection at the rodent control company.
The State Sanitary Inspection has imposed on the hospital management a compliance plan with urgent measures to remedy the hygiene deficiencies in the food block and to redo the rodent control procedures under strict supervision.