Doctors on high alert as mystery flu ‘similar to Covid’ leaves people critically ill

Original article here.

In an outbreak that shares an eerie similarity with the arrival of Covid-19, a mystery illness has hospitalised dozens of people in Argentina.

Last night, April 17, an alert about the virus circulated via an international public health surveillance system as 60 people were reported with the sickness in the country’s capital Buenos Aires, reports the Daily Mail.

When Covid was brought to the attention of the world in late 2019, it did so via the same database that alerted authorities last night in Argentina, called ProMed.

Submitted anonymously “via an individual known to ProMed”, yesterday’s alert said: “In the past 30 days, there appears to have been an increase in severe atypical pneumonia requiring critical care in Buenos Aires. The affected individuals are mostly young people without major risk factors.”

While no official statements have been made by Argentinian officials, patients have reportedly required mechanical ventilation to help them breathe.

The alert also suggested over a third of the sickened population showed symptoms of psittacosis, caused by a type of chlamydia rife in birds. However, many of the affected had no apparent history of contact with birds, the alert noted.

Psittacosis is a flu-like illness nicknamed parrot fever and typically triggers symptoms such as mild headaches and a cough, although it can lead to pneumonia in severe cases. The disease can be particularly problematic for elderly or immunocompromised members of the public.

The alert added: “Although psittacosis appears to be the etiology of some of the cases, there may be more than one agent involved. ProMED would appreciate more information about these cases.”

According to the Mail, experts today called on health chiefs not to be “complacent” in the face of the threat of another respiratory illness, although it was insisted it was “unlikely this will pose a threat more widely”.