Glossary

Terms, in plain English

HFRS

Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome — the kidney-and-bleeding disease caused by Old World hantaviruses (Hantaan, Seoul, Puumala, Dobrava).

HPS / HCPS

Hantavirus (Cardio)Pulmonary Syndrome — the lung-and-shock disease caused by New World hantaviruses (Sin Nombre, Andes, Bayou and others).

Nephropathia epidemica (NE)

The mild form of HFRS, caused mainly by Puumala virus in Northern and Central Europe.

ARDS

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome — the lungs flood with fluid and oxygen exchange fails. The killer in HPS.

Capillary leak

When small blood vessels become abnormally permeable, letting plasma escape into surrounding tissue. The central pathology of severe hantavirus disease.

Oliguric

Producing very little urine — the kidney-failure phase of HFRS.

Diuretic phase

The recovery phase after oliguria, when the kidneys produce massive amounts of urine (3–6 L/day).

Hemoconcentration

Rising concentration of blood cells because plasma has leaked out of the vessels.

Thrombocytopenia

Abnormally low platelet count, raising the risk of bleeding.

Viremia

Presence of virus in the bloodstream.

Reservoir

The animal species in which a virus naturally and persistently lives — for hantavirus, mostly rodents.

Zoonosis

An infection that humans catch from animals.

ECMO

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation — a machine that oxygenates blood outside the body when the lungs (or heart) fail. Raises HPS survival to ~80% when started early.

RdRp

RNA-dependent RNA polymerase — the viral enzyme (the "L protein") that copies the RNA genome inside the cell.

Gn / Gc

The two glycoproteins that form the spikes on the virus surface; encoded by the M segment.

Bunyavirales

The viral order that contains Hantaviridae and other segmented negative-sense RNA virus families.