Hantavirus infections. Reasons. Symptoms. Diagnostics. Treatment

Hantaviruses are viral infections (viral infections) caused by viruses of the genus Hantavirus.

Hantaviruses (family Bunyaviridae), whose natural hosts are certain species of rodents or wild insectivores (shrews, moles, etc.), are found on all continents. Those that are transmitted to humans and are the cause of renal hemorrhagic fever (RHSF) in Europe and Asia or hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in the Americas, especially in Latin America.

There are about a hundred varieties of hantaviruses, four of which, present in Europe, are capable of causing zoonoses (infections transmitted from animals and humans). In France, hantavirus is mainly caused by the Puumala virus, which circulates in Northern and Western Europe. Its natural host is the reddish vole.

Reasons
Human infection usually occurs due to inhalation of dust contaminated with urine, saliva, or the excrement of healthy carrier animals that make up their reservoir. They usually occur during activities in the forest or in non-residential premises at the edge of the forest.

Transmission through direct contact between infected material and damaged skin or through ingestion of contaminated food or water is much less common.

No cases of human-to-human transmission of the virus have been reported on the Eurasian continent, these were the only reported cases of hantavirus from the South American Andes.

Diagnostic
When faced with clinical signs indicating illness, the doctor will try to find out if his patient worked with a tree or cleaned a room that had been uninhabited for a long time during the previous two months.

Biological parameters, such as a decrease in platelet count (thrombocytopenia) or the presence of proteins in urine (proteinuria) and traces of blood (microscopic hematuria), can help in making a diagnosis.

Ultrasound can also help identify the typical signs of this infection, including enlarged kidneys and spleen.

Blood tests (ELISA or IF tests) are performed by medical or hospital biological laboratories to detect virus-specific IgM and IgG antibodies present in the patient's blood and confirm the diagnosis.

Tests that detect viral RNA are not for sale.

Interested people
Hantavirus is relatively rare in countries such as France or the United States, but it is much more common in others: thus, in Germany and Scandinavia, from several hundred to thousands of cases are reported annually.

On the French mainland, an average of about 100 cases are detected annually (only 14 in 2013, but 232 in 2017) in the northeastern part of the country, with outbreaks north of the Ardennes, in Avensis, in the north. and in the center of the Aisne, south of the Oise, in the Doubs or in the Jura. Detection peaks are observed in late spring and autumn. Cases of Hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HPS) are sporadic in the Antilles and Guyana region.

In France, men are two to three times more likely to suffer from hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. Foresters, agricultural workers and construction workers were mainly affected.

Risk factors
The main risk factor in metropolitan France is exposure to polluted, dusty environments during certain activities such as cutting, skidding or moving wood, cleaning chicken coops, barns and barns, and working in old houses. or any other dust removal activities.

Symptoms of hantavirus infections
Although hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome is most often benign, it can cause more or less serious symptoms.

Flu syndrome
The first symptoms that appear a week or two months after infection resemble flu symptoms. Fever can reach 39-40 degrees within two to four days and stabilize at 38 degrees in the following days. Sometimes it is accompanied by chills and headaches.

Pain
The pain, which is resistant to conventional painkillers, comes a little later. It can be muscle pain, abdominal or chest pain, lower back pain, joint pain, or even toothache.

Visual disturbances
Fleeting visual disturbances of the "acute myopia" type appear in 40% of cases and are very indicative of the disease.

Other signs
Inconspicuous hemorrhagic signs (bleeding gums, etc.)
Imperceptible respiratory symptoms in a third of cases
Evolution
Kidney failure occurs a second time in more than half of cases. Liver damage may also occur. Fortunately, severe complications - hemorrhagic symptoms, whether or not related to acute kidney failure, neurological disorders, etc. -remain rare, and recovery is usually achieved without consequences after several weeks of severe fatigue. However, the disease is fatal in one or two cases out of a thousand.

The specifics of American SPH
American hantaviruses have pulmonary and non-renal tropism. In cardiopulmonary syndrome, fever is accompanied by difficulty breathing, which can worsen very quickly. Four out of five cases of the disease identified in Guyana were fatal.

Treatment of hantavirus infections
There is no specific treatment for hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome caused by hantaviruses. Therefore, the treatment is only symptomatic.

Medications such as aspirin, anti-inflammatory drugs, and some antibiotics should be avoided due to their toxicity to the kidneys.

In case of acute renal failure, dialysis sessions may be required.

Prevent hantavirus infections
Prevention is based on an arsenal of precautions that must be taken to avoid contact with the virus in areas frequented by the red vole, where it is endemic.

Authorities recommend avoiding contact with rodents or their corpses and combating their presence by preventing their access to homes and, if necessary, by pest control of homes located in the forest or on the edge of the forest.

Work in dusty rooms where they may have been should not be performed without protection (masks, etc.).

Finally, people who come into contact with rodents at work should follow certain hygiene measures, in particular, cover wounds with bandages. Юридические услуги в сфере документов становятся все более востребованными в условиях глобализации. UST Group предлагает полный спектр решений: от получения справки о несудимости для тендера до апостиля на все виды документов и сопровождения сделок с недвижимостью. Наше бюро переводов качественно адаптирует тексты под требования зарубежных инстанций. Мы работаем быстро, честно и конфиденциально, помогая тысячам клиентов из Украины и за ее пределами. Наш сайт https://ustgroup.com.ua/ — ваш надежный помощник в мире юридических формальностей.