A resident of Juan-les-Pins was transferred on Tuesday, May 12 by the Alpes-Maritimes emergency services to the IHU in Marseille. A suspected hantavirus infection prompted this care. Tests are underway while health authorities are monitoring several contact cases linked to the cruise ship MV Hondius.
A resident of Juan-les-Pins, in the Alpes-Maritimes, was transferred on Tuesday, May 12 in the afternoon to Marseille by emergency services. A suspected hantavirus infection motivated this transfer to a facility of the Public Assistance-Hospitals of Marseille.
According to several medical sources, the care is being provided at the IHU in Marseille, the national reference center for vector-borne diseases. Complementary examinations are underway. The analyses are also to be sent to the Pasteur Institute in Paris.
The Regional Health Agency Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur has not confirmed the information. The ARS refers to the crisis unit of the Ministry of Health and to the press conference by the Health Minister, Stéphanie Rist, who spoke on the subject: “I have no knowledge to date of cases in southern France.”
However, this transfer is not cause for concern at this stage since admission to the IHU remains possible for simple monitoring. Intensive care would not be provided at this facility.
Enhanced surveillance following the outbreak on the MV Hondius
The health file is being closely monitored following the appearance of several infections aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius. The ship, which was supposed to sail to Ushuaia to Cape Verde, experienced a hantavirus outbreak. Three passengers died: a Dutch couple in their sixties and a German traveler.
In France, 22 contact cases have been identified. A French national aboard the ship tested positive on Monday, May 11 after being evacuated to Tenerife, Spain. Stéphanie Rist specified that hospitalization in “a hospital specializing in infectious diseases, with all the techniques in the rooms that is very protective to prevent the virus from spreading,” was underway.
Another passenger considered a contact case was also transferred on Tuesday, May 12 to Rennes University Hospital from Concarneau.
During questions to the government at the National Assembly, Stéphanie Rist indicated that the French identified as contact cases were “hospitalized” or “being hospitalized.” The eight French nationals on a first flight between Saint Helena and Johannesburg with the sick passenger “are currently hospitalized.”
The Health Minister also stated that “there are no elements supporting widespread circulation of the virus in the national territory.”
Among the five French nationals repatriated after the cruise, one infected woman remains hospitalized in Paris in serious condition. “A patient tested positive for hantavirus is presenting a severe form and is currently in intensive care in serious condition,” Stéphanie Rist declared.
No antiviral treatment or vaccine available
The “Andes” strain of hantavirus causes damage to blood vessels. A “disease of the vessel walls, which will damage the vessel walls,” explained Olivier Schwartz, virologist and director of the Virus and Immunity Unit at the Pasteur Institute.
The scientist also recalled the lack of specific treatment. “There is no approved effective antiviral treatment. We only provide supportive care. We protect ourselves through physical restriction: wearing a mask, washing hands are sufficient to provide an adequate barrier.” No vaccine currently exists against this disease.
According to Xavier de Lamballerie, director of the emerging viruses unit and director of the hospital virology laboratory at the IHU in Marseille, the patient transferred from the Alpes-Maritimes would be a contact case. “We will find contact cases everywhere, there is no need to stress. I have zero concerns,” the specialist told La Provence.
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