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Original Article
Volume 330:949-955 April 7, 1994 Number 14
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Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome: A Clinical Description of 17 Patients with a Newly Recognized Disease
Jeffrey S. Duchin, Frederick T. Koster, C.J. Peters, Gary L. Simpson, Bruce Tempest, Sherif R. Zaki, Thomas G. Ksiazek, Pierre E. Rollin, Stuart Nichol, Edith T. Umland, Ronald L. Moolenaar, Susan E. Reef, Kurt B. Nolte, Margaret M. Gallaher, Jay C. Butler, Robert F. Breiman, for The Hantavirus Study Group

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ABSTRACT

Background In May 1993 an outbreak of severe respiratory illness occurred in the southwestern United States. A previously unknown hantavirus was identified as the cause. In Asia hantaviruses are associated with hemorrhagic fever and renal disease. They have not been known as a cause of human disease in North America.

Methods We analyzed clinical, laboratory, and autopsy data on the first 17 persons with confirmed infection from this newly recognized strain of hantavirus.

Results The mean age of the patients was 32.2 years (range, 13 to 64); 61 percent were women, 72 percent were Native American, 22 percent white, and 6 percent Hispanic. The most common prodromal symptoms were fever and myalgia (100 percent), cough or dyspnea (76 percent), gastrointestinal symptoms (76 percent), and headache (71 percent). The most common physical findings were tachypnea (100 percent), tachycardia (94 percent), and hypotension (50 percent). The laboratory findings included leukocytosis (median peak cell count, 26,000 per cubic millimeter), often with myeloid precursors, an increased hematocrit, thrombocytopenia (median lowest platelet count, 64,000 per cubic millimeter), prolonged prothrombin and partial-thromboplastin times, an elevated serum lactate dehydrogenase concentration, decreased serum protein concentrations, and proteinuria. Rapidly progressive acute pulmonary edema developed in 15 of the 17 patients (88 percent), and 13 patients, all of whom had profound hypotension, died (case fatality rate, 76 percent). Increases in the hematocrit and partial-thromboplastin time were predictive of death.

Conclusions Infection with a newly described hantavirus causes the hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which is characterized by a brief prodromal illness followed by rapidly progressive, noncardiogenic pulmonary edema.


Source Information

From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta (J.S.D., C.J.P., S.R.Z., T.G.K., P.E.R., S.N., R.L.M., S.E.R., J.C.B., R.F.B.); the Department of Infectious Diseases, University of New Mexico Hospital, Albuquerque (F.T.K., G.L.S.); the New Mexico Department of Health, Santa Fe (G.L.S., M.M.G.); the Indian Health Service, Gallup Indian Medical Center, Gallup, N.M. (B.T.); and the Office of the Medical Investigator, Albuquerque (E.T.U., K.B.N.). The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Indian Health Service.The members of the Hantavirus Study Group are listed in the Appendix.

Address reprint requests to Dr. Duchin at NCID, Bldg. 1, Mailstop C09, Childhood and Respiratory Diseases Branch, Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd., Atlanta, GA 30333.

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Related Letters:

Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome in New England and Europe
Brackett L. E., Rotenberg J., Sherman C. B., Clement J., Colson P., McKenna P., Denetclaw T. H., Denetclaw W. F., Duchin J. S., Breiman R. F., Butler J. C., Peters C.J., Koster F. T., Wenzel R. P.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1994; 331:545-548, Aug 25, 1994. Correspondence

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