Letter to the Editor

Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome: Need for Prevention and Early Diagnosis

Authors: Haridimos Markogiannakis, MD, PhD

Abstract

To the Editor: An excellent article by Rivers et al, which appeared in the Southern Medical Journal in 2009, provided a comprehensive analysis of all hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) cases reported in Texas from 1993 to 2006, and a thorough overview of HPS.1 Human hantavirus infections are emerging infections that cause either HPS, mostly encountered in the Americas, or hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), usually on other continents.1-3 HPS, also known as hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome, is a rare, life-threatening, rodent-borne, viral disease characterized by severe cardiopulmonary illness first described during a 1993 outbreak in the southwestern United States.4 Viruses responsible for HPS in Central and South America include the Andes, choclo, juquitiba, and Laguna Negra viruses. In the United States and North America, in general, HPS is most often caused by sin nombre virus (SNV) or, rarely, Black Creek Canal, New York, and Bayou viruses.

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References

1. Rivers MN, Alexander JL, Rohde RE, et al. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in Texas: 1993-2006. South Med J 2009;102:36-41.
 
2. Jonsson CB, Figueiredo LT, Vapalahti O. A global perspective on hantavirus ecology, epidemiology, and disease. Clin Microbiol Rev 2010;23:412-441.
 
3. Simpson SQ, Spikes L, Patel S, et al. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Infect Dis Clin North Am2 010;24:159-173.
 
4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Update: outbreak of hantavirus infection-southwestern United States, 1993. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 1993;42:441-443.
 
5. MacNeil A, Comer JA, Ksiazek TG, et al. Sin Nombre virus-specific immunoglobulin M and G kinetics in hantavirus pulmonary syndrome and the role played by serologic responses in predicting disease outcome. J Infect Dis 2010;202:242-246.
 
6. Jonsson CB, Hooper J, Mertz G. Treatment of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Antiviral Res 2008;78:162-169.