[New epidemiologic and molecular evidence of person to person transmission of hantavirus Andes Sout].

After the Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) outbreak occurred in Southern Argentina (Patagonia) in 1996, a new mechanism of hantavirus spread was described for Andes virus (AND): person-to-person transmission. Since then, this mode of transmission has been limited to the endemic area of AND Sout lineage. We report here an HPS case, patient A, with residence in Buenos Aires Province, whose unique epidemiological risk factor was to have shared a trip to Southern Argentina with an already ill person, later confirmed as an HPS case (patient I). A third case (patient B), with residence in Buenos Aires Province, developed HPS after several contact events with patient A, with no additional risk factors. Hantavirus infection was confirmed in all three patients by serological diagnosis and viral genetic characterization. The viral lineage characterized was AND Sout, being the same strain in the three cases. The clinical picture of patient A showed profound compromise, with gastrointestinal symptoms, with no clinical evidence of pulmonary involvement. In this work we present new evidence supporting person-to-person transmission for AND Sout lineage, where there was an only contact with the index case, occasional, prolonged and non-repeated, established out of the endemic area for AND Sout lineage.