The media is awash with news that a cruise ship, called MV Hondius, has suffered an outbreak of hantavirus. Three fatalities have occurred, with one victim confirmed to have died from this infection. Many people are wondering what this infection is and what they can do to stay safe or what they can do in case they are infected. We provide an explainer of the basics you need to know about this virus.
For starters, hantavirus is transmitted by rodents like mice and rats. Infections resulting from this virus are rare in humans, and when they happen, they fall into one of two categories.
The first is the Old World hantavirus. This family of viruses typically occurs in Asia and Europe. A person infected by this family of hantavirus develops hemorrhagic fever characterized by renal syndrome. The person experiences intense headaches, fever, abdominal and back pain, and may suffer damage to their kidneys.
The second category is the New World hantavirus, mostly occurring in the Americas. They trigger a pulmonary syndrome linked to the virus. The infection starts with symptoms similar to what flu triggers, such as fatigue, muscle aches and fever. These symptoms progress rapidly into respiratory failure and acute pulmonary syndrome.
Hantaviruses are spread when someone inhales or comes into contact with rodent feces that are infected. Infected saliva and urine of these rodents can also transmit the virus. In rare cases, being scratched or bitten by an infected rodent can also transmit this virus into your bloodstream. Under normal circumstances, these viral infections are hardly transmitted from one person to another in the same way that infections like COVID-19 or flu are transmitted.
The incubation period of these viruses tends to be long, ranging from 1–8 weeks. This raises questions about how the infection started on the cruise ship. Scientists are speculating that someone or several people may have been infected before they boarded the ship, or the ship itself was infested with rodents that had the virus, leading to the people on board getting exposed in the ways mentioned earlier. Infection from one person to another, though unlikely, could also be a possibility. An ongoing investigation will shed some light on the source of the infection.
Currently, there are no treatments indicated for hantavirus infections. Instead, patients are given supportive management. For example, those manifesting pulmonary syndrome can be put on oxygen, ventilation, blood pressure management and fluid management.
Mortality can be up to 15% in the case of Old World hantavirus infections, while this can be up to 40% for the pulmonary version of this infection linked to New World hantavirus infections. This high mortality makes early detection pivotal since patients can get the help they need before symptom progression gets critical and endangers lives.
Risks like hantaviruses make the work of companies like Co-Diagnostics Inc. (NASDAQ: CODX) that develop diagnostic systems and kits very important, especially when suspected cases are flagged in the field where access to advanced lab settings is limited for accurate diagnosis.
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