Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in children: case report and case series from an endemic area of Brazil

• Published in: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
• Main Authors: Ana Cláudia Pereira Terças-Trettel, Alba Valéria Gomes de Melo, Sandra Mara Fernandes Bonilha, Josdemar Muniz de Moraes, Renata Carvalho de Oliveira, Alexandro Guterres, Jorlan Fernandes, Marina Atanaka, Mariano Martinez Espinosa, Luciana Sampaio, Sumako Kinoshieta Ueda, Elba Regina Sampaio de Lemos
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade de São Paulo (USP) 2019
• Subjects: Hantavirus infections; Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome; Children; Febrile acute respiratory failure; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/s1678-9946201961065; https://doaj.org/article/769af7e59e1147beb8df893d6b147307

ABSTRACT Hantavirus Cardiopulmonary Syndrome (HCPS) is an important emergent zoonosis associated with wild rodents in Brazil, where this viral infection in children is generally rare. We present HCPS in a child from the Pantanal Biome and a review of all reported pediatric cases in Mato Grosso State, an endemic area for HCPS in Brazil. The investigation used the Information System for Notifiable Diseases database (SINAN). A 12-year-old boy was hospitalized with fever and respiratory failure and hantavirus IgM and IgG antibodies were detected by ELISA in serum samples. During the period of 1999 to 2016, 32 HCPS pediatric cases confirmed by serology were reported to SINAN with a mortality rate of 34.4%. The possibility of hantavirus infection in children with acute febrile illness associated with respiratory failure should be considered mainly in recognized endemic areas as Mato Grosso State, contradicting a hypothesis that children are more protected from lung involvement.