Guatemala, 25 feb ( EFE).-the authorities of health Guatemala today sent to a laboratory in Atlanta, in United States, the samples of a virus which has claimed the lives of at least six children in a rural community in the East of the country, official sources reported.
Physician Juan Tomas Garcia, the national of Zacapa hospital, told reporters that tests sent to United States were made six deceased children and three more than they have given positive a virus, they are potentially the cause of “an acute neurological syndrome”.
Cases, said Garcia, have occurred in the city of Zacapa and in the municipalities of La Union and San Diego, and it is feared to be a virus of rapid contagion.
The virus causes minor respiratory complications, diarrhea, high fevers, vomiting, nausea and seizures.
The director of the National Centre for epidemiology, Edgar Santos, said that after the laboratory tests carried out to minors by local specialists is has ruled out to be rotavirus, influenza b, hantavirus, and the virus of the Nile.
“All these results and all analyses made here in Guatemala were sent to the Center for Disease Control and prevention in Atlanta, United States, to determine the cause of this disease”, said Santos.
It is expected that the results of the analysis are revealed in a week. EFE
