hantavirus
When a new virus appeared in the Four Corners region, American scientists were stumped. What was causing such a quick death to such healthy people? Was there a potential epidemic on their hands? No one knew, and when they finally determined that a strain hantavirus was involved, many were shocked. This had to be something completely new to the hantavirus family and that was somewhat overwhelming. Normally, the hantavirus only affects the kidneys, but this new virus dealt with the upper respiratory area. This paper takes an in depth look at the history of the hantavirus as well as its infectious nature and replication process. Hantaviruses first came into existence through human eyes during the Korean War. Over 2000 U.S. soldiers were affected with this unknown virus that was quickly found to be carried through field mice. The natural territory of this virus included parts of Japan, Korea, northeastern China, and southeastern and central Russia. Between 1955 and 1977, this virus caused many more infections along with fatalities. Throughout the 1970s, eleven other strains of hantaviruses were found in Korea and Eurasia. In 1976, Hantaan virus was isolated from the Apodemus agreavius
Soon fears of an epidemic came into the spotlight. Other cases of ARDS caused by hantavirus were found in East Texas, Nevada, northern California, Oregon, and then Louisiana and Mississippi. While the initial infections did match the Four Corners strain, the case in Louisiana was unique. The particular deer mouse was not a native inhabitant in Louisiana, and the strain in the patient did not match the Four Corners strain. When searching for a possible chemical that might cause these symptoms, Cheek came across something known as phosgene. Initially the Germans used it during World War I and it was known that this chemical could cause symptoms of ARDS. This chemical had been banned from the United States. However, a sister compound known as phosphene had been used legally to kill prairie dogs. With the increase in the number of prairie dogs that winter and spring, Cheek thought they had found their solution. But when he searched for this chemical in trailers used to store equipment for extermination throughout the area he found nothing. Hantavirus: Technical Information Area. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hanta Luckily, there is a somewhat effective treatment for HFRS. Unfortunately, it is only effective if used early in the course of the disease. The treatment known as Ribavirin is a broad-spectrum antiviral drug. It is effective against RNA viruses in vitro and in vivo. This treatment has shown a reduced mortality when administered early enough (Care 1). However, the treatment is not effective when the disease is advanced. There is one adverse side effect of the treatment; a person can possibly develop of anemia. This side effect is reversible once a person stops taking the drugs. Scientists do not believe that this treatment is successful for the other type of infection caused by hantavirus: hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). http://www.uct.ac.za/microbiology/hanta html.
Some common words found in the essay are:
G1 G2, Genomic RNA, Finally June, Indians Corners, China Death, World War, Korea Eurasia, Infection HPS, HFRS Unfortunately, Corners Study, sin nombre, 3' ncr, hantavirus found, strain hantavirus, pulmonary edema, prairie dogs, caused hantavirus, g1 g2, corners strain, chemical cause symptoms, genomic rna, pulmonary syndrome hps, sin nombre virus, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, match corners strain,
Approximate Word count = 3218
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)
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