Hantavirus is the name given to a group of viruses carried by rodents and transmitted by their droppings and urine.
Serious infections caused by hantaviruses
Hantaviruses causes 2 serious infections in humans:
- haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS)
- hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS)
Transmission
Humans are primarily infected by:
- Inhaling virus particles from contaminated dust
- Direct contact with rodent urine, droppings, or saliva
- Rarely, rodent bites or scratches
It is unclear how human-to-human transmission of ANDV occurs, but it appears that close contact with an infected person is necessary, and airborne transmission should be considered a possibility.
Symptoms
Symptoms usually appear 1 to 8 weeks after exposure. Early signs resemble the flu and include:
- Fever, fatigue, and muscle aches, especially in large muscle groups
- Headache, dizziness, chills, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain
For HPS, later symptoms can progress rapidly to:
- Coughing and shortness of breath
- Pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs)
- Low blood pressure and shock
HFRS primarily affects the kidneys, causing:
- Low urine output followed by high urine output
- Kidney swelling, protein in urine, and sometimes internal bleeding
- Fever, headache, and abdominal pain
Management
Please remember to ask travel history if a patient presenting with flu like symptoms.
If you suspect that the patient had contact with Hanta virus case, please contact the Southmead Infectious Diseases team or the on-call Microbiologist for further advice.
Please use the link below for contact details:
Contact details: Infectious Diseases and Microbiology advice and referrals
Further guidance
For further guidance please follow the links below.