Hantavirus Syndromes: A Review

Abstract

Citation: Krsto Grozdanovski and Kater-ina Spasovska. Hantavirus Syndromes: A Review. Biomed J Sci & Tech Res 47(5)-2022. BJSTR. MS.ID.007554. In recent decades, Hantavirus associated outbreaks have led to public concern and have created a global public health burden as an emerging zoonoses. Hantavi-ruses belong to a family of Bunyaviridae that are hosted in small mammals as their natural reservoir. Humans get infected accidentally, usually by inhaling contaminated aerosols. Hantavirus spillover from natural hosts into human populations could be considered an ecological process, in which environmental forces, behavioral determinants of exposure, and dynamics at the human-animal interface affect human susceptibility and the epidemiology of the disease. Hantaviruses cause two major clinical syndromes: hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in Europe and Asia and Hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) in the Americas. Approximately 150,000 to 200,000 cases of HFRS are hospitalized each year worldwide, with most of the cases occurring in developing countries. The case fatality rate of HFRS varies from 1-12% depending of the viruses. HCPS is rarer than HRSV, with approximately 200 cases per year, but with much higher fatality rate up to 40%. The central phenomena behind the pathogenesis of both HFRS and HCPS are increased vascular permeability and acute thrombocytopenia. The pathogenesis is likely to be a complex multifactorial process that includes contributions from immune responses, platelet dysfunction and the deregulation of endothelial cell barrier functions. As there is no effective treatment or vaccine approved for use in the USA and Europe, public awareness and precautionary measures are the only ways to minimize the risk of Hantavirus disease.