Known as a zoonotic virus, the hantavirus It belongs to a family of viruses that is transmitted from rodents to humans, either by contact or by inhalation of particles contaminated with urine, saliva or feces of these animals. It was in the 1990s when a variant that could be transmitted from human to human was discovered, which has been the subject of study.
This strain once again raised concern after a health alert was issued due to a small outbreak inside the Antarctic expedition cruise ship MV Hondius, where at least three deaths were recorded. Other patients have been confirmed with the virus and more people remain under suspicion.
Although the World Health Organization (WHO) has highlighted the low probability that this virus represents a pandemic-level danger to public health, misinformation about the hantavirus has spread on social networks. Although it can be fatal, specialists highlight that its transmission is not easy.
Óscar Donis, head of the Epidemiology Section of the Department of Preventive Medicine of the Guatemalan Social Security Institute (IGSS), highlights that, in the case of the Andes variant (ANDV) of the hantavirus familytransmission between humans is much more limited than that of covid-19 or the common cold.
Experts highlight that the Andes variant has been recorded mainly in Argentina and Chile, and that its transmission between humans occurs only under very specific conditions. Nancy Sandoval, infectologist and vice president of the Pan American Association of Infectious Diseases, points out that this variant is only transmitted through very close and prolonged contact between people.
That is, the Andes variant can be transmitted through direct contact with respiratory secretions, especially saliva and other body fluids, highlights Sandoval.
Doctors state that transmission is not as efficient as occurred with covid-19, which is why they highlight that it could not reproduce with the speed with which SARS-CoV-2 spread.
Hantavirus in numbers
The hantavirus family is known to have at least 38 variants, of which 24 cause disease in humans and can pose a threat to carriers.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has highlighted that hantavirus can cause hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS), which leads the patient to develop respiratory conditions.
Hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome, highlights the WHO, has caused the death of up to 50% of patients. Iris Cazali, infectious disease doctor and head of the Infectious Diseases Unit at Roosevelt Hospital, explained that, although the hantavirus does not have a high contagion rate because it is transmitted mainly from rodent to person, it does have a high mortality rate.
“The fatality rate of hantavirus is high. When hantavirus pulmonary syndrome occurs, mortality can be between 35% and 50%,” he highlights.
To understand it, explains Cazali, SARS-CoV-2 is much more contagious, while the hantavirus is more lethal. Likewise, the incubation period of both viruses is different, since the first has a period of 14 days, while the second can last up to six weeks.
No treatment
One of the difficulties in the fight against hantavirus and its variants is that, since its discovery, there is no preventive vaccine, specific treatment or cure to help those infected.
The development of the disease, Cazali highlights, is also complex because it can be confused with a common flu. However, attention should be paid to the progression of symptoms, which include breathing difficulties and abnormal pain, since an early diagnosis helps doctors react in a better way.
To understand its evolution, Sandoval explains that the symptoms include a sudden high fever, intense muscle pain, chills and general malaise, which are sometimes accompanied by nausea and abdominal pain. These symptoms may appear three to five days before breathing difficulties appear.