Theodoros Vasilakopoulos: Hantavirus is extremely difficult to transmit, why the 70-year-old was placed in 45-day quarantine

Theodoros Vasilakopoulos, president of EODY, spoke astir whether hantavirus poses a menace to society, arsenic good arsenic astir the Greek antheral presently successful quarantine astatine Attikon University Hospital.

The pulmonologist appeared reassuring regarding the transmissibility of hantavirus and referred to the wellness information of the 70-year-old, stressing that helium is not infected with hantavirus but has “simply been exposed to a affirmative case.”

“The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control decided that each passengers connected the cruise vessel should beryllium considered high-risk contacts,” Mr. Vasilakopoulos said, adding that “the immense bulk of these radical are wholly healthy, without having developed adjacent the slightest symptom.”

As the EODY president emphasized, “the nonstop aforesaid applies to our chap Greek citizen, who has not had and inactive does not person the slightest grounds truthful far.”

Extremely hard to catch

“This microorganism is highly hard to transmit; it is not casual to dispersed from idiosyncratic to person,” Mr. Vasilakopoulos stressed. Referring to the archetypal hantavirus cases detected aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, helium explained:

“The archetypal cases were not infected by different person. They were infected due to the fact that they visited a landfill tract successful Argentina to observe uncommon birds. They were apt exposed to rodent droppings that were infected.”

Why the 70-year-old entered a 45-day quarantine

Mr. Vasilakopoulos explained the crushed the 70-year-old has been placed successful a 45-day quarantine.

“It is the full incubation period. Usually it is overmuch shorter. And due to the fact that nine learned a acquisition from coronavirus, contempt the precise debased transmissibility, successful bid to destruct immoderate doubt, we decided connected quarantine for the full incubation play of the disease, truthful that adjacent if helium develops the unwellness — which is highly improbable — helium volition not exposure immoderate different national to adjacent the slightest transmission risk.”

He added that the diligent is successful a negative-pressure isolation unit, meaning that “any droplets generated successful the ambiance are removed and this transmission hazard is fundamentally eliminated.”

Only 1 hantavirus strain tin dispersed person-to-person

Hantavirus is not chartless to specialists and, according to Mr. Vasilakopoulos, has been known since the mid-1950s.

“We person known this microorganism since the mid-1950s. There are galore antithetic hantaviruses. In Europe and Asia, it is not transmitted from idiosyncratic to person. In astir strains recovered successful the Americas, it is besides not transmitted from idiosyncratic to person. Only 1 strain — the Andes strain — tin dispersed from idiosyncratic to person, but highly rarely. It requires prolonged and adjacent contact,” helium explained.

He besides noted that “there is nary medicine for hantavirus, conscionable arsenic determination is nary medicine for astir viral infections, due to the fact that the assemblage fights the microorganism connected its own.”

According to him, “for present the 70-year-old volition stay successful hospital. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the EU Health Security Committee issued guidance for a 45-day quarantine, which tin besides instrumentality spot astatine home.”

He clarified that “the measures are disproportionately strict compared to the existent nationalist wellness threat, but wellness authorities and governments simply privation to guarantee that determination is perfectly nary hazard to their citizens.”