Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) results from contact with infected rodents. People can also fall ill after consuming food and drink contaminated with rodent waste or saliva. While symptoms of HPS can start out relatively mild, health effects may become severe as the illness progresses.
HPS is separated into two stages. The first stage involves fever, headache, and muscle pain. This stage is comparable to the effects of the flu. Symptoms tend to become more severe as they advance to the second stage, which can include:
HPS can be life-threatening in some cases, which illustrates why timely medical care is so important.
Medication is not commonly used to treat HPS, but doctors may administer antiviral drugs when the symptoms are severe. Blood pressure medications can also help patients maintain normal blood pressure readings.
Other treatments are more common, including:
Patients with severe symptoms will require treatment within a hospital’s intensive care unit. Because the effects of HPS can be severe, avoiding rodent infestations is crucial to prevent infections from occurring. Should a person become infected, immediate medical treatment is recommended to prevent more serious effects.