| Disease/Syndrome |
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome |
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| Category |
Infection, Occupational |
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| Acute/Chronic |
Acute-Severe |
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| Synonyms |
HPS; Hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS); Hantavirus ARDS; Sin Nombre, Black Creek Canal, Bayou, Laguna Negra, New York, Monongahela, or Andes virus infection; |
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| Biomedical References |
Search PubMed |
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| Comments |
EPIDEMIOLOGY: Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) was first identified in 1993 in the Four Corners region of New Mexico as a flu-like illness followed by respiratory distress, shock, and a mortality rate of about 50%. Workers are infected by inhaling aerosols of rodent excreta. Person-to-person transmission has been reported in Argentina, but not in the USA. About 300 cases (mainly Sin nombre virus infections) in North America and 400 cases in South America (mainly Andes virus infections) have been reported since 1993. FINDINGS: The illness has four phases: prodrome (flu-like illness), pulmonary edema and shock, diuresis, and convalescence. Patients may have abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea during the first phase. In the second phase, 50% to 75% of patients require mechanical ventilation. The 4-6 days of pulmonary edema is followed by 3-4 days of diuresis. Clinical and laboratory abnormalities are similar for the Sin nombre and Andes infections except proteinuria and azotemia are more common in South American HPS. Pulmonary hemorrhages are also more common in HPS caused by the Andes virus. Petechiae are rare. Typical laboratory findings after the initial phase include leukocytosis with a marked shift to the left, thrombocytopenia, atypical lymphocytosis, and mildly elevated hepatic transaminases. [CCDM, p. 243-5; ID, p. 2023-31, 2140-4] |
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| Latency/Incubation |
Few days to 1.5 months; usually 2 weeks; |
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| Diagnostic |
"Most patients have IgM antibodies at the time of hospitalization." [CCDM, p. 234] ELISA kits to detect IgG and IgM are distributed to state labs by CDC. [Wallach, p. 976] |
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| ICD-9 Code |
480.8 |
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| Scope |
USA, Canada, and South America |
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| Reference Link |
OSHA - Hantavirus |
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| Related Information in Haz-Map |
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| Symptoms/Findings |
Symptoms/Findings associated with this disease:
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| Job Tasks |
High risk job tasks associated with this disease:
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