Author:
HEYMAN P.,VERVOORT T.,COLSON P.,CHU Y.-K.,AVSIC-ZUPANC T.,LUNDKVIST Å.
Abstract
Haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is a human disease characterized by flu-like
symptoms, renal dysfunction, and in severe cases, haemorrhagic manifestations. The causative
agents of HFRS are Hantaan (HTN), Seoul (SEO), Puumala (PUU) and Dobrava (DOB)
hantaviruses. Hantavirus infections are of increasing importance in Europe. Outbreaks occur in
Belgium with a 3- to 4-year interval with an increasing number of cases. We describe the
largest outbreak so far in Belgium with 217 serologically and clinically confirmed cases in the
period between October 1995 and December 1996. We demonstrated that the use of viral
antigen derived from a local PUU-strain was able to detect significantly more sera positive for
IgM in an immunofluorescence assay. Furthermore, although in some cases SEO, HTN and
DOB antibody-reactivities were detected by ELISA, only PUU infections could be confirmed
by neutralization test. The presence of an unknown hantavirus serotype circulating in Belgium
should be considered.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Subject
Infectious Diseases,Epidemiology
Cited by
36 articles.
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