The deaths last year of actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa shook world public opinion. And even more so when the details became known: she died from complications caused by a hantavirus. He died days later from cardiac arrest while alone at home and unable to ask for help, being an Alzheimer's patient.
Hantavirus is once again front-page news worldwide due to the outbreak that has occurred on the cruise ship MV Hondius , which has killed three people - with one case already confirmed by laboratory and two pending - and infected part of the passengers and crew, with one admitted to the ICU in South Africa.
Under the name hantavirus, a group of viruses is grouped that are transmitted, mainly, by being exposed to rodent feces and inhaling dust contaminated with them. It can also be contracted by contact with contaminated surfaces, rodent bites, or direct contact with these animals. It is an infrequent disease but, as has been seen, it can lead to death from a disease called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.
The symptoms are similar to the flu and begin with fever, chills, and muscle pain. If it worsens, and it does so rapidly, it causes a dry cough, nausea, vomiting, general malaise, and inability to breathe, fluid buildup in the lungs, and respiratory failure.
Severe cases require hospitalization, ICU admission with oxygen and mechanical ventilation. Mortality exceeds 30% in cases with respiratory symptoms.
There is no specific treatment with antivirals nor vaccine, so care focuses on relieving symptoms and maintaining the patient's respiratory function.
Person-to-person transmission is rare, so the WHO and health authorities are investigating what happened on the cruise ship to identify the origin and fumigate the holds.
Public Health officials advise avoiding contact at all times with nests, carcasses, saliva, urine, or feces of rodents such as rats and mice, by ventilating and disinfecting enclosed spaces before cleaning them. If an area is suspected of being contaminated, it should not be swept or vacuumed, and if it must be done, a mask should be worn.