Pediatric Blogs
I’m no longer aflutter about the recent outbreak of Hantavirus infection linked to Yosemite National Park. If you’ve read my blog entry from July 17, 2012, you’ll know that my family and I visited the park during the same time as the 9 people with confirmed Hantavirus infection who were exposed to the virus while staying at cabins in the park.
Luckily, we did not stay in the park facilities implicated as the location of the disease transmission. However, we did stay in a park hotel and see a mouse in my mother-in-law’s hotel room, which was adjacent to mine!
When my husband and son came down with cold symptoms last week, they were convinced they had Hantavirus infection, which they now know is “contracted as a result of contact with urine, droppings, or saliva from infected rodents—primarily deer mice.” (This quote is extracted from an email message we received from Yosemite National Park.)
Although their symptoms are subsiding, they won’t be fully convinced it’s not Hantavirus infection until they have fully recovered. Still, I couldn’t help listening to my son’s chest just to be sure that he had no lower respiratory tract findings. It is daunting to think that a visit to such a beautiful, tranquil place was associated with such dire health implications for a few families.
Below are references that I perused to learn more about this topic:
•American Academy of Pediatrics. Red Book: 2012 Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases. Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome. Pickering LK, ed. 29th ed. Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics; 2012:352-354.
•National Park Service. Yosemite National Park California. Updated September 19, 2012. http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/hantavirus.htm. Accessed September 19, 2012
•Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hantavirus. http://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/.Accessed September 19, 2012.