From infection to death: How long hantavirus stays in human body before it kills?

All in all, the dance with Hantavirus is a game of chance, and lives are often on the line.

In Short

• Seven cases confirmed or suspected with three deaths and one critical patient
• Hantavirus spreads silently, symptoms appear 1-8 weeks after exposure
• Virus causes severe lung issues leading to breathing difficulty and heart failure

Nearly 150 people remain stranded on a cruise ship anchored off Praia, Cape Verde, after a deadly cluster outbreak of a rare rodent-borne virus turned an Atlantic voyage into a medical emergency.

The MV Hondius, a luxury cruise ship, left Argentina last month on a journey through remote parts of the Atlantic. Along the way, several passengers contracted hantavirus and became sick with a rapidly progressing respiratory illness.

As of May 4, seven cases have been confirmed or suspected, including three deaths, one critically ill patient, and three with mild symptoms.

WHO also admitted that human-to-human transmission of the virus cannot be ruled out. The global health agency, however, went on to add that the overall risk to the global public remains low.

It's true that Hantavirus is not encountered easily, and most people never encounter it at all.

But it's also true that those who do encounter it, the virus moves through their body in a swift, systematic, and brutal way.

Here is what happens, from the moment of exposure to the final outcome.

SILENT START TO THE INFECTION

Hantavirus infection begins without fanfare.

You breathe in microscopic particles from the urine, droppings, or saliva of an infected rodent, and often don't even realise it.

You could contract the virus in a dusty, old storeroom, in a poorly ventilated cabin, on a hiking trail, or any other neglected spot where rodents nest.

Then, symptoms start to show usually one to eight weeks after contact with an infected rodent. During this window, the virus is silently multiplying inside you, and you feel nothing at all.

This delay is part of what makes Hantavirus so dangerous. Because Hantavirus typically incubates for one to six weeks, patients likely fall ill some time after they were first infected, meaning further cases may still emerge.

BODY UNDER ATTACK

The infection, called Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), advances through two distinct stages.

The first arrives looking like a bad flu, with early symptoms including fever, headache, muscle aches, and gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea, or vomiting. This phase can last several days, and because these symptoms are so common, Hantavirus is frequently mistaken for influenza or COVID-19.

That misidentification can unfortunately cost precious time.

Then, usually four to ten days later, the virus reveals its true nature. It causes blood vessels to weaken and leak. The air sacs in the lungs fill with fluid, making breathing increasingly difficult.

The patient begins to cough, struggles to draw breath, and feels a tightening in the chest. This is not congestion, it's the lungs physically flooding.

The cardiopulmonary phase that follows is marked by elevated heart rate, irregular heartbeats, and cardiogenic shock, which is a condition in which the heart is unable to pump enough blood for the body.

Without adequate treatment, most deaths occur within 24 to 48 hours of this phase’s onset.

TREATMENT, RECOVERY, OR DEATH?

The harsh truth is that Hantavirus does not have a cure. No medicines, no vaccine, no antiviral drug that specifically targets Hantavirus. No treatment at all.

If infection is suspected, the patient needs emergency medical care immediately, preferably in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), even before a formal diagnosis.

Early intensive care is critical as patients whose conditions worsen suddenly can die very quickly.

The only kind of treatment involves doctors managing oxygen levels, blood pressure, and fluid balance, essentially buying time for the immune system to win.

It's a game of will and persistence of your immune system.

For those who emerge as survivors, the process of recovery is slow.

Most begin improving within five to seven days of intensive care, but full recovery can take several weeks, with some patients experiencing lingering fatigue for months.

All in all, the dance with Hantavirus is a game of chance, and lives are often on the line.

Just like right now when the lives of almost 150 people aboard a cruise are on the line.

The passengers aboard the MV Hondius are living through this timeline in real time, a reminder that in the age of global travel, a rodent’s droppings in a faraway field can reach the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

- Ends