Abstract

Background: Andes orthohantavirus (ANDV) is the sole etiologic agent of Hantavirus Cardiopulmonary Syndrome in Chile and, until now, the only Hantavirus known to be transmitted by person-to-person route. The main risk of person-to-person transmission is to be a sexual partner of an index case, and deep kissing the main mechanism of infection. Experimental reports suggest that ANDV infection can be inhibited by some saliva components. Therefore, some host factors like saliva quality, could help to explain why some individuals do not become infected even though their exposure to the virus is high.