What is hps disease

This is why diagnosis is particularly tricky. Treatment options for HPS are limited. Supportive treatment during the severe stages of illness allows the body and its organs to rest and defend themselves as the viral illness runs its course.

Making notes before your visit, as well as taking along a trusted family member or friend, can help you through an appointment with your doctor. This November your donation goes even further to improve lung health and defeat lung cancer. Double Your Gift. This content does not have an Arabic version. Overview Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is an infectious disease characterized by flu-like symptoms that can progress rapidly to potentially life-threatening breathing problems.

Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic. Share on: Facebook Twitter. Show references Ferri FF. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. In: Ferri's Clinical Advisor Philadelphia, Pa.

Accessed Aug. Ciottone GR. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome attack. In: Ciottone's Disaster Medicine. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome HPS. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Kliegman RM, et al. Most deaths occur within 1 to 2 days after severe breathing problems begin.

About 4 out of 10 people who get HPS do not survive. Your doctor will do a physical examination and ask you questions about your symptoms, past health, and exposure to rodents. You may have other tests, such as chest X-rays, a complete blood count , and an oxygen saturation test. Your doctor will know for sure that you have HPS only if you have the signs of HPS and if tests show that the virus is or has been in your blood or tissues.

HPS requires treatment in a hospital right away, even if the case is mild. You will get treatment to support you through the illness, such as intravenous IV fluids and medicines. You may need a ventilator to help you breathe.

People who survive the illness usually recover quickly. Most are able to leave the hospital after 7 days. The best way to prevent hantavirus infection is to avoid contact with rodents and their droppings. If you live in or visit an area where the viruses have been found:. Current as of: September 23, Author: Healthwise Staff. Medical Review: E. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor.

Even healthy individuals are at risk for HPS infection if exposed to the virus. To date, no cases of HPS have been reported in the United States in which the virus was transmitted from one person to another.

In fact, in a study of health care workers who were exposed to either patients or specimens infected with related types of hantaviruses which cause a different disease in humans , none of the workers showed evidence of infection or illness. In Chile and Argentina, rare cases of person-to-person transmission have occurred among close contacts of a person who was ill with a type of hantavirus called Andes virus. A young, physically fit Navajo man suffering from shortness of breath was rushed to a hospital in New Mexico and died very rapidly.