This article by Erika Guillén appeared in Caracas’ El Universal.
Pictures, medical reports and autopsy data are being gathered by members of the Medical Association of Aragua state, central north Venezuela, where nine people have died in the last few days reportedly from a hemorrhagic fever syndrome. Another person died in Caracas on Sunday from the same condition.

To date, doctors do not know whether the disease is caused by a virus or bacteria. This will be determined by the test results of the samples sent last week to the National Institute of Hygiene (INH) in Caracas, the only place in Venezuela that has the adequate reagents.

“Three to five days are enough for running the tests, but they (health authorities) have not said anything. This is an emergency, we do not know what we are facing and we need to know the causes in order to provide appropriate treatment to prevent the collapse of the patient’s organs, and also to set up epidemiological surveillance. This is a very aggressive disease that causes deterioration of patients within 72 hours and causes death,” said a doctor who attended a meeting convened on Tuesday night at the headquarters of the Medical Association of Aragua state and who requested anonymity.

The doctors attending the meeting insisted that government authorities must declare a health emergency in Aragua state. They reported on 10 deaths from hemorrhagic fever syndrome, including one patient who died in Caracas on Sunday. Sources said that some culture samples were sent to a private laboratory to determine the causes of the disease.

For professional ethics, doctors would not disclose the names of the patients involved, but they provided details of the autopsy of one of the deceased that reveal the aggressiveness of the disease.

The autopsy report shows hepatomegaly, strong steatosis, congestive spleen, pale kidneys, hemorrhagic enterocolitis, erosive pleuritis and petechiae in the upper limbs.

Representatives of the Medical Association of Aragua state remarked that all the deceased had the same symptoms (high fever, skin rashes and bleeding).

For the original report go to http://english.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/140916/autopsy-reveals-multiple-complications-in-victims-of-fever-syndrome