Another Killer *Hantavirus*
You may have heard in the news a man in China died from an infection with a virus known as Hantavirus . Yes you heard right. There is another virus on the agenda so this virus originates from rodents like rats who are hosts to the virus. The virus is also contained inside the feces and urine of the rodent even in the saliva and if the virus becomes airborne it can be inhaled by a human and result in infection. The virus can also enter through open wounds and also through bites.
Hantavirus is commonly seen in the Southwest states of US such as Arizona and Colorado. One of the important things to remember on clinical vignettes is that the patient is oftentimes described to have visited a rural area such as people who are camping or people who are hiking. So now let’s discuss how does somebody get this virus:-
This virus is acquired from rodents and what we’re really referring to our mice and rats and these rodents shed the virus in their excreta, in their urine and feces. Humans can acquire the virus via inhalation. Hantavirus is known to cause to specific syndromes and I’ll talk about each one separately. The first one is called HFRS which stands for Hemorrhagic Fever with renal syndrome and the second one is known as HBS which is Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome. so let’s first talk about HFRS which is hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. It is acquired by a human when he or she is exposed to rodent excreta feces or urine that comes from a mouse or a rat. The symptoms involved include fever, headache, backache and later the patient can develop a particular rash as the name of the syndrome implies. It later progresses to renal failure and the patient can have protein and blood in their urine. The diagnosis of this involves Serologic Testing or PCR to detect the virus. Renal function tests of course are also done as our urine tests and the treatment for this is IV Ribavirin and if necessary renal dialysis. That’s the first syndrome.
The next syndrome is HPS which is Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. This syndrome is also acquired in the same way where a human can inhale the virus that comes from rodent excreta and in clinical vignettes what you want to look for is any type of description of a mouse so that’s a very important clue to come up with the diagnosis of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Exposure to any type of mouse the symptoms include fever muscle pain known as myalgia pulmonary symptoms like cough and shortness of breath, headache and sometimes also GI symptoms. This can actually progress and the patient can develop pulmonary edema which can cause respiratory distress. This can in severe cases lead to respiratory failure. The patient can also develop low blood pressure hypotension. Diagnosis of this again involves serologic testing or PCR to detect the virus and the chest x-ray is done to detect the pulmonary edema.
Treatment of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome involves really just supportive care since there is no actual drug that can be beneficial because ribavirin in these cases is unfortunately ineffective so since the patient will have respiratory failure oftentimes the mechanical ventilation is required as part of the treatment and sometimes vasopressors as well to help maintain the blood pressure since the patient often will have low blood pressure.
Hanta Virus Pulmonary Syndrome has a fatality rate of around 40%. There’s no vaccination or cure for hanta virus at this stage except for management of symptoms. Hospital admission early on results in a better prognosis for the patient because with the cases of difficulty in breathing and the lung issues that it causes having access to oxygen and a ventilator really assists with the respiratory distress. There’s no human to human transmission of Hanta virus at this stage.
The main passage of infection is breathing in the infected feces particles when they float around in the air or rodent bites and eating foods which are contaminated with rodent droppings.
Those who are at risk of Hanta virus are those who have infested houses, campus or people living near Forest areas and those in close proximity to the rodent population in their day-to-day lives.
…………………..Please Stay at Home………………………
Koushik mondal
Author & Editor
Originally published at https://indiaheadlinebazar.blogspot.com.