Seroprevalence of Antibodies to Hantavirus in Health Care Workers and Other Residents of Southern Argentina

Other studies in Argentina and Chile did not find evidence of human-to-human transmission of hantavirus.

“other studies in Argentina [12, 13] and Chile [14, 15] did not find evidence of it.”

Of the 14 noncomparative studies, 7 were conducted in Argentina (6 analyses of clusters and 1 seroprevalence study) and 3 in Chile (2 analyses of clusters and 1 seroprevalence study).

“Of the 14 noncomparative studies, 7 were conducted in Argentina (6 analyses of clusters and 1 seroprevalence study) [8–10, 13, 25, 26, 32] and 3 in Chile (2 analyses of clusters and 1 seroprevalence study) [11, 14, 35] (Supplementary Table 2).”

For the noncomparative studies, the evidence for human-to-human transmission is limited to analyses of clusters in Chile and Argentina, and these findings are not supported by seroprevalence studies conducted in these countries after hantavirus outbreaks in the population.

“For the noncomparative studies, the evidence for human-to-human transmission is limited to analyses of clusters in Chile [11, 35] and Argentina [8–10, 26, 32] and these findings are not supported by seroprevalence studies conducted in these countries after hantavirus outbreaks in the population [13, 14].”

The seroprevalence study conducted 1-2 months following the 1996 outbreak in Rio Negro province did not support the finding of human-to-human transmission.

“The seroprevalence study conducted 1–2 months following the 1996 outbreak in Rio Negro province did not support the finding of human-to-human transmission [13].”

That seroprevalence study found a very low prevalence of IgG to hantavirus (1%) in 294 community members and 0% in 152 healthcare workers.

“It found a very low prevalence of IgG to hantavirus (1%) in 294 community members and 0% in 152 healthcare workers [13].”

The lack of response from most of the authors of the included studies limited our ability to check methodological issues or to determine why the case-control study referred to in conjunction with the 1996 Rio Negro outbreak was never published.

“Furthermore, the lack of response from most of the authors of the included studies limited our ability to check methodological issues or to determine why the case-control study referred to in conjunction with the 1996 Rio Negro outbreak in El Bolsón and Bariloche was never published [13].”