Isolation of a Hantavirus from a Severely Ill Patient with Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome in Greece
Abstract
Attention has recently been drawn to a severe form of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) found in the Balkan region of Europe. This disease is characterized by fever, abdominal or back pain, conjunctival injection, renal insufficiency, and a significant mortality rate (currently estimated to be approx. 14% in Greece. The disease resembles Korean hemorrhagic fever (KHF) of Korea and epidemic hemorrhagic fever (EHF) of China, rather than the milder nephropathia epidemica (NE) of Scandinavia and Western Europe. Patients who have recovered from this disease possess antibodies that react to highest titers with Hantaan virus, the cause of KHF and EHF, rather than with Puumala or Seoul viruses, the other known causes of HFRS. We have previously suggested, based on serological and epidemiological studies, that the disease found in Greece may be caused by a virus closely related or identical to the prototype Hantaan virus. In this communication, we report the isolation of a hantavirus from the urine of a severely ill patient with HFRS who was infected in northern Greece and the preliminary serological evidence to suggest that this virus represents a unique strain of hantavirus that is closely related to the prototype Hantaan virus.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1987
- Accession Number
- ADA192906
Entities
People
- A. Antoniades
- C. A. Rossi
- D. Grekas
- J. W. Leduc
Organizations
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki