BRIEFS. Medicine

Hanta virus strikes again

Rosemary Pérez Almendras arrived at the emergency room of the Santo Tomás Hospital last Wednesday at 3:50 p.m. At around 7:15 a.m. yesterday, she died of what doctors suspect is another case of the Hanta virus, the first in Panama City since 2000.

After performing tests on Almendras’s body, the emergency room director at Santo Tomás, Eynar Cruz, said there is evidence to confirm it was indeed the Hanta virus that killed her.

The victim showed some of the classic symptoms of the virus, including vomiting, fever and shortness of breath. Humans can contract the disease through contact with infected rodents.