Covid-like mystery pneumonia kills three, infecting six others: Should we be worried?

Covid-19 turned people’s lives around. Now, three have died and six others have been infected with a Covid-like pneumonia ‘of unknown origin’ in Argentina. The patients tested negative for Covid-19, influenza, Hantavirus, and some strains of legionella.

The mysterious illness first presented itself between 18 and 22 August, authorities cited in The Independent say.

The patients had something in common

All of the infected persons reported so far have either worked or been treated inhealthcare facilities. According to The Independent, eight were health workers and one was an ICU patient in Tucumán who received care in a private clinic. She is currently consideredpatient zero, and the clinic is undergoing a 7-day preventive isolation period while the origin of the outbreak is further studied.

The Tucumán province’s minister of public health, Luis Medina Ruiz, reported at a press conference yesterday that all of the patients have had symptoms in common:

What these patients have in common is the severe respiratory condition with bilateral pneumonia and compromise in images [x-ray] very similar to Covid, but that is ruled out.

Authorities stated:

We continue to carry out the research protocol for blood cultures, sputum cultures, urine cultures, and all the viruses and bacteria that we have available in the province.

Another pandemic ‘relatively likely’

Although Covid-19 has proven the most fatal pandemic of the past century, a 2021 study by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests extreme viral outbreaks are not as rare as commonly thought, says Duke University’s Global Health Institute.

It unveiled that there is a 2% probability of a Covid-like pandemic emerging during any year. To put this in perspective, there would be a 38% chance that a person born in 2000 would have lived through a pandemic by now. Of course, 2000s babies have, indeed, been met with their first pandemic already, when Covid-19 broke out in 2019.

Ph.D. William Pan, a co-author of the study and Duke professor, said:

The most important takeaway is that large pandemics like COVID-19 and the Spanish flu are relatively likely…Understanding that pandemics aren’t so rare should raise the priority of efforts to prevent and control them in the future.

Read more:

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⋙ STI: Doctors warn of a spread of ‘extremely drug-resistant’ infection post-pandemic

⋙ Covid-19: China is testing live fish for Covid-19 as cases spread