Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Cases, Buenos Aires, Argentina

DOI: 10.3201/eid1602.091114
Suggested citation for this article: Echavarría M, Querci M, Marcone D, Videla C, Martínez A, Bonvehi P, et al. Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 cases, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Emerg Infect Dis. 2010 Feb; [Epub ahead of print]

Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Cases, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Marcela Echavarría, Marcia Querci, Débora Marcone, Cristina Videla, Alfredo Martínez, Pablo Bonvehi, and Guadalupe Carballal

Author affiliation: Centro de Educación Médica e Investigaciones Clínicas (CEMIC) University Hospital, Buenos Aires, Argentina

To determine clinical and virologic characteristics of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, we conducted real-time reverse transcription–PCR on samples from patients with influenza-like illness, June 11–30, 2009. Of 513 patients tested, 54% were positive for influenza virus subtype H1N1. Infection rate was lowest for patients >60 years of age.

A novel influenza A (H1N1) virus emerged in mid-April 2009 and spread rapidly among humans worldwide (1,2). The virus, pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus, is a unique combination of gene segments from North American and Eurasian swine lineages and ancestral genes derived from avian species and humans (3,4). In Buenos Aires, Argentina, the first laboratory-confirmed case of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 was documented May 16, 2009, in a patient who had traveled to the United States. This index case seeded an elementary school outbreak in Buenos Aires, and, within days, several schools reported increasing numbers of cases. The public health response included closure of schools with laboratory-confirmed influenza subtype H1N1 cases, voluntary self-isolation and oseltamivir treatment of suspected and confirmed patients, and recommended chemoprophylaxis for contacts. Despite these interventions, cases increased among the school-age and general population (5).

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