Theodoros Vasilakopoulos, president of EODY, spoke about whether hantavirus poses a threat to society, as well as about the Greek man currently in quarantine at Attikon University Hospital.

The pulmonologist appeared reassuring regarding the transmissibility of hantavirus and referred to the health condition of the 70-year-old, stressing that he is not infected with hantavirus but has “simply been exposed to a positive case.”

“The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control decided that all passengers on the cruise ship should be considered high-risk contacts,” Mr. Vasilakopoulos said, adding that “the vast majority of these people are completely healthy, without having developed even the slightest symptom.”

As the EODY president emphasized, “the exact same applies to our fellow Greek citizen, who has not had and still does not have the slightest symptom so far.”

Extremely difficult to catch

“This virus is extremely difficult to transmit; it is not easy to spread from person to person,” Mr. Vasilakopoulos stressed. Referring to the first hantavirus cases detected aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, he explained:

“The first cases were not infected by another person. They were infected because they visited a landfill site in Argentina to observe rare birds. They were likely exposed to rodent droppings that were infected.”

Why the 70-year-old entered a 45-day quarantine

Mr. Vasilakopoulos explained the reason the 70-year-old has been placed in a 45-day quarantine.

“It is the total incubation period. Usually it is much shorter. And because society learned a lesson from coronavirus, despite the very low transmissibility, in order to eliminate any doubt, we decided on quarantine for the entire incubation period of the disease, so that even if he develops the illness — which is highly unlikely — he will not expose any other citizen to even the slightest transmission risk.”

He added that the patient is in a negative-pressure isolation unit, meaning that “any droplets generated in the atmosphere are removed and this transmission risk is essentially eliminated.”

Only one hantavirus strain can spread person-to-person

Hantavirus is not unknown to specialists and, according to Mr. Vasilakopoulos, has been known since the mid-1950s.

“We have known this virus since the mid-1950s. There are many different hantaviruses. In Europe and Asia, it is not transmitted from person to person. In most strains found in the Americas, it is also not transmitted from person to person. Only one strain — the Andes strain — can spread from person to person, but extremely rarely. It requires prolonged and close contact,” he explained.

He also noted that “there is no medication for hantavirus, just as there is no medication for most viral infections, because the body fights the virus on its own.”

According to him, “for now the 70-year-old will remain in hospital. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the EU Health Security Committee issued guidance for a 45-day quarantine, which can also take place at home.”

He clarified that “the measures are disproportionately strict compared to the actual public health threat, but health authorities and governments simply want to ensure that there is absolutely no risk to their citizens.”