In the midst of virulent covid-19 pillaging thousands of lives all around the world, shockingly received a case of man in china passed away due another infectious disease, hantavirus. But this doesn't necessarily mean people should be worried if another pandemic is coming. This is because hantavirus cases are rare, and they spread as a result of close contact with rodent urine, droppings or saliva. Hantavirus is transmitted from rodent to another human, it is not a human to human transmitting disease.
WHAT ARE THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS ?
Most often symptoms occur 9-33 days after the virus enters the body, but symptoms can appear as early as one week or as late as eight weeks. Early symptoms are general and include
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Fever
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Fatigue
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Muscle aches, especially in the large muscle groups such as thighs, hips, back, and sometimes shoulders.
These symptoms are universal. There may also be
- Headaches
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Dizziness
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Chills
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Abdominal problems, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.
CAN HANTAVIRUS CAUSE FATAL ?
Although hantavirus is rare, disease caused by Hantavirus called Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) is frequently fatal, with a case fatality rate of 36%.
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Symptoms appear within 1 to 5 weeks after exposure. The average is 2 to 4 weeks. The disease begins as a flu-like illness. In the early stage, someone may experience fever, chills, muscle aches, headaches, nausea, vomiting, and shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat and gastrointestinal problems.
However, the disease progresses rapidly and infected people experience an abnormal fall in blood pressure and their lungs will fill with fluid. Severe respiratory failure, resulting in death, can occur within a few days of the early stage symptoms.
WHAT ARE TREATMENTS AVAILABLE?
Unfortunately, as hantavirus infections can lead to HPS. At this time, there is no definitive treatment for HPS other than early recognition of HPS and subsequent medical support (usually consisting of symptomatic medical treatment and respiratory support or mechanical ventilation). There is no vaccine available to protect against any hantaviruses to date.
References
Images
1.https://draxe.com/health/hantavirus/
2.https://www.emaze.com/@AIWIIWI
3.https://prezi.com/bedtjpzziitg/hantavirus-by-hana-zielke/
3.https://www.diseasemaps.org/hantavirus-pulmonary-syndrome/top-questions/treatment/
