Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS)
Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD
Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.
Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD
Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.
- Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) facts
- What is hantavirus?
- What is hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), and what are hantavirus pulmonary syndrome symptoms and signs?
- What is the history of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome?
- What causes hantavirus pulmonary syndrome?
- How is hantavirus pulmonary syndrome diagnosed?
- What is the treatment for hantavirus pulmonary syndrome?
- What are risk factors for hantavirus pulmonary syndrome?
- What are complications of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome?
- What is the prognosis of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome?
- Can hantavirus pulmonary syndrome be prevented?
- Where can people get more information on hantavirus pulmonary syndrome?
- Find a local Doctor in your town
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) facts
- Hantaviruses are RNA viruses that are transmitted to human by rodents.
- Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) is a disease in which in the late stage of infection with a hantavirus subtype, patients experience lung congestion, fluid accumulation in the lungs, and shortness of breath. Death occurs in about 38% of patients. Early symptoms (fatigue, fever, muscle aches) are nonspecific.
- Hantavirus was first identified in an outbreak in 1993 in the "Four Corners" area of the southwestern U.S. and found to be transmitted to humans by rodent urine, feces, saliva, and by airborne particles containing these items. The 2012 outbreak at Yosemite National Park was due to hantavirus transfer to humans by deer mice. Human-to-human transmission of hantavirus in the Americas has not been documented.
- HPS is caused by hantaviruses that cause lung capillaries to leak fluid into the lung tissue.
- HPS is usually diagnosed presumptively by the patient's lung symptoms or the patient's association with rodents, or the patient's probable contact with rodent-contaminated airborne dust; chest X-rays provide additional evidence, but definitive diagnosis is usually done at a specialized lab or the CDC.
- There is no specific treatment of HPS; patients are usually treated in an intensive-care facility and often require respiratory support (intubation).
- Risk factors are any association with rodents and their airborne body excretions.
- Complications of HPS are death in about 38% of patients; if the HPS patient survives, there are usually no long-term complications.
- For patients who survive HPS, the prognosis is very good without complications.
- Prevention of HPS centers on avoidance of rodent contamination; there is no vaccine available to prevent hantavirus infection or HPS.
Next: What is hantavirus?
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