Hantavirus disease

Definition

An acute zoonotic viral disease characterised by abrupt onset of fever, influenza-like clinical signs (e.g., chills, headache, myalgia, dry cough), gastrointestinal signs (e.g., diffuse abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea), transient troubled vision (acute myopia), lumbalgia due to renal swelling, haemorrhagic manifestations to various degrees sometimes followed by rapidly increasing dyspnoea due to not-cardiogenic acute lung oedema, and/or renal involvement. The latter is characterised by initial, often massive proteinuria and microhaematuria sometimes accompanied by transient renal function impediment. All hantavirus infections are heralded by varying degrees of transient thrombocytopenia, which may serve as an indicator of clinical severity.

Subcategories (3)