Hantaviruses

Hantaviruses are a family of viruses that can lead to bleeding in the lungs and kidney damage. Prior to the outbreak in the southwestern United States, they were best known to cause disease from Western Europe to eastern Asia. Humans contract a Hantavirus infection by breathing dust contaminated by the urine, saliva or feces of an infected rodent. Infection also may occur if contaminated material or dust gets into broken skin or a mucous membrane, such as the eye.

Ingesting food or water polluted by an infected rodent may reason illness, too. Hantaviruses also can be transmitted by the bite of an impure rodent. Person-to-person transmission has not been demonstrated in the United States. Cases are most likely to arise in rural areas where the deer mouse, which appears to be the major source of the virus in the United States, primarily lives. Buildings, barns, garages, areas where rubbish or wood piles exist, or similar locations can serve as potential settings of Hantavirus infection.

Symptoms of HPS embrace an early stage of fever for 3 to 5 days, with muscle aches, headaches, faintness, rapid heart rate, chills, queasiness and vomiting. Patients can develop abdominal pain. Blood pressure drops and soon patients require mechanical (artificial) breathing machines. Some patients develop serious kidney disease. Death occurs by an average of 5 days as a result of heart and lung failure. HPS can be a serious, life-threatening illness.

Treatment with ribavirin, a medicine utilize with other Hantaviruses, is being studied but now it has not been proven to be helpful. Supportive care for patients with HPS is given in a severe care unit where fluids and blood pressure are maintained and mechanical ventilation with oxygen may be necessary. To keep rodents out of a building, you must create an environment that does not attract them. Deny rodents food, water, nesting sites and entry to the building: