Fatal Puumala Hantavirus Disease: Involvement of Complement Activation and Vascular Leakage in the Pathobiology

Tarja Sironen; Jussi Sane; Marja-Liisa Lokki; Seppo Meri; Leif C Andersson; Timo Hautala; Heikki Kauma; Sakari Vuorinen; Johan Rasmuson; Magnus Evander; Clas Ahlm; Antti Vaheri

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofx229

Fatal Puumala Hantavirus Disease: Involvement of Complement Activation and Vascular Leakage in the Pathobiology

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2017 Oct 21;4(4):ofx229. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofx229. eCollection 2017 Fall.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Medicum, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
² Department of Internal Medicine, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland.
³ Etelä-Savo Hospital District, Mikkeli, Finland.
⁴ Department of Clinical Microbiology, Infectious Diseases, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
⁵ Department of Clinical Microbiology, Virology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.

Abstract

The case-fatality rate of hantavirus disease depends strongly on the causative hantavirus, ranging from 0.1% to 40%. However, the pathogenesis is not fully understood, and at present no licensed therapies exist. We describe fatal cases caused by Puumala hantavirus indicating involvement of complement activation and vascular leakage.

Keywords: Puumala virus; case-fatality rate; complement; hantavirus; vascular leakage.