Maiztegui National Human Viral Disease Institute
Encyclopedia
The Maiztegui National Human Viral Disease Institute (INEVH) is a viral research laboratory in Pergamino, Argentina
.
, a condition known among the country's rural population as the mal de los rastrojos ("the sickness of the corn straw"). Transmitted mainly by mice dwelling in fallow corn fields, the disease was believed to affect up to 1,000 people annually and claimed up to a 30% mortality rate in its early years.
One of its researchers, Dr. Julio Isidro Maiztegui
, developed breakthrough in the treatment of the disease in 1971 when he devised the introduction of blood plasma
from recovered patients in saline solution
to those whose exposure had taken place under eight days earlier. The treatment, which reduced motality rates from 30% to around 1% of those infected, led to greater support for the work at CEMIC, and in 1978, the National Institute of Hemorrhagic Viruses (INVH) was established in Pergamino, with Dr. Maiztegui as its director.
Work began on a new building in 1980 to replace the INVH's outdated facilities and in 1985, the first wing was inaugurated. Dr. Maiztegui remained at the helm of the INVH until his death from heart failure in 1993, at age 62, and the institute was renamed in his honor in 1994.
The INEVH has performed research for the World Health Organization
since 1985 and currently specializes in four areas:
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
.
Overview
The INEVH originated in the Clinical Research and Medical Education Center (CEMIC) in Pergamino. The city, a prosperous agricultural hub in the heart of Argentina's corn belt, was also the epicenter in 1958 of a sudden outbreak of Argentine hemorrhagic feverArgentine hemorrhagic fever
Argentine hemorrhagic fever or O'Higgins disease, also known in Argentina as mal de los rastrojos, stubble disease, is a hemorrhagic fever and zoonotic infectious disease occurring in Argentina. It is caused by the Junín virus...
, a condition known among the country's rural population as the mal de los rastrojos ("the sickness of the corn straw"). Transmitted mainly by mice dwelling in fallow corn fields, the disease was believed to affect up to 1,000 people annually and claimed up to a 30% mortality rate in its early years.
One of its researchers, Dr. Julio Isidro Maiztegui
Julio Isidro Maiztegui
Julio Isidro Maiztegui was an Argentine physician and epidemiologist.-Life and work:Maiztegui was born in Bahía Blanca, Argentina, in 1931. He received a medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires, in 1957, and the following year, began his residency at the Boston University Hospital...
, developed breakthrough in the treatment of the disease in 1971 when he devised the introduction of blood plasma
Blood plasma
Blood plasma is the straw-colored liquid component of blood in which the blood cells in whole blood are normally suspended. It makes up about 55% of the total blood volume. It is the intravascular fluid part of extracellular fluid...
from recovered patients in saline solution
Saline (medicine)
In medicine, saline is a general term referring to a sterile solution of sodium chloride in water but is only sterile when it is to be placed intravenously, otherwise, a saline solution is a salt water solution...
to those whose exposure had taken place under eight days earlier. The treatment, which reduced motality rates from 30% to around 1% of those infected, led to greater support for the work at CEMIC, and in 1978, the National Institute of Hemorrhagic Viruses (INVH) was established in Pergamino, with Dr. Maiztegui as its director.
Work began on a new building in 1980 to replace the INVH's outdated facilities and in 1985, the first wing was inaugurated. Dr. Maiztegui remained at the helm of the INVH until his death from heart failure in 1993, at age 62, and the institute was renamed in his honor in 1994.
The INEVH has performed research for the World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
since 1985 and currently specializes in four areas:
- ArenavirusArenavirusArenavirus is a genus of virus that infects rodents and occasionally humans. At least eight Arenaviruses are known to cause human disease. The diseases derived from Arenaviruses range in severity. Aseptic meningitis, a severe human disease that causes inflammation covering the brain and spinal...
es - ArbovirusArbovirusArbovirus is a term used to refer to a group of viruses that are transmitted by arthropod vectors. The word arbovirus is an acronym . Some arboviruses are able to cause emergent disease.-Transmission:...
es - HantavirusHantavirusHantaviruses are negative sense RNA viruses in the Bunyaviridae family. Humans may be infected with hantaviruses through rodent bites, urine, saliva or contact with rodent waste products...
- Production of biological specimens