Argentine Hemorrhagic Fever

Abstract

Argentine hemorrhagic fever (AHF) is a severe viral hemorrhagic syndrome endemic to the agri- cultural plains of central Argentina. Its incidence is mainly seasonal (Moraz and Kunz, 2011). The clinical symptoms of AHF include hematological, neurological, cardiovascular, renal, and immu- nological alterations. This emerging disease was first recognized in 1955, and its etiological agent was characterized and designated Junín virus (JUNV) for the geographical site where it was first isolated (Parodi et al., 1958, 1959). JUNV is a rodent-borne virus and belongs to the clade B New World (NW) arenavirus within the Arenaviridae family (Salvato et al., 2011). The population of humans at risk is composed mainly of agricultural workers, believed to become infected with urine, saliva, or blood from infected rodents (Mills et al., 1994). Since its emergence in the 1950s, annual epidemics of the disease have been recorded. The initially high case fatality rate of the disease was markedly reduced, first with adequate supportive measures and, more significantly, with the use of immune plasma (Enria et al., 2008). Former endemic hot spots are currently cooling off; however, there is a steady and progressive geographic expansion of the endemic region into north-central Argentina, and currently almost five million people are considered to be at risk of contracting AHF (Enria et al., 2008). A collaborative effort conducted by the U.S. and Argentine Governments in the 1980s led to the production of a live attenuated JUNV Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers vaccine (Maiztegui et al., 1998). The availability of the live attenuated vaccine contributed to a substantial reduction in the number of AHF cases in the recent years (Enria et al., 2008).