A hantavirus infection is a rare but often deadly viral infection. Infection with hantavirus causes a disease called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which disrupts lung capillaries. The virus is spread by rodents that shed the virus in their droppings, saliva and urine. Minute droplets that carry the virus can become airborne and infect people who breathe it in. The hantavirus is not spread from person to person. According to the National Library of Medicine, the best protection against hantavirus and the symptoms of infection is the control of rodents in and around homes.
Early Symptoms
The symptoms of hantavirus infections come in two stages. According to the Mayo Clinic, the symptoms of the first stage appear from one to five weeks after hantavirus exposure. These early symptoms could be described as flu-like and include fever, fatigue and muscle aches. The muscle aches may be particularly noticeable in large muscle groups such as the thighs, hips and back. Muscle aches may also be present in the shoulders. Other early symptoms include dizziness, chills and headaches. There can also be fast breathing, a fast pulse, nausea, diarrhea, abdominal pain and vomiting.
Later Symptoms
The hantavirus infection in the later stage begins to weaken the capillaries in the lungs. The Mayo Clinic refers to this as the cardiopulmonary stage. Symptoms of this stage of infection include a cough that produces secretion, shortness of breath, buildup of fluid in the lungs and low blood pressure. The heartbeat can be slower or faster than normal, a condition called arrhythmia. Organ failure and respiratory shock may soon follow.
Treatment of Symptoms
According to the American Lung Association, the infection progresses quickly from severe breathing problems to adult respiratory distress syndrome, which is the sudden failure of the respiratory system and is fatal in 30 to 40 percent of cases. Early treatment of symptoms may improve a patient's chances of survival.
