Author/Editor		Avšič-Županc, T; Poljak, M
Title		Hantavirus genomic variation and disease distribution
Translated title		Genomske variacije in razširjenost hantavirusnih infekcij v svetu
Type		članek
Source		Zdrav Vestn
Vol. and No.		Letnik 63, št. Suppl 2
Publication year		1994
Volume		str. II-7-II-9
Language		eng
Abstract		Background. Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is a disease caused by viruses belonging to a genus Hantavirus of the family Bunyaviridae. Isolation of the Hantaan virus, the prototype virus of HFRS, in 1976 and its subsequent adaptation to grow in cell culture, quickly followed by development of an immunofluorescent antibody assay for serological diagnosis of infection, led to the conclusion that hantaviruses were widespread throughoaut the world in several genera of rodents and insectivores. Hantaviruses cause chronic, apparently asymptomatic infections among their reservoir hosts. Infection in man is a direct result of exposure to infected rodents or insectivores or their infected excreta. To date, at least four different serotypes (Hantaan, Puumala Seoul, Prospect Hill) in the Hantavirus genus are registered and there is evidence of additional serotypes (Dobrava, Thailand, Thottapalayam). These viruses share antigenic, genetic, epidemiological and ecological characteristics. In general, milder form of HFRS is linked etiologically to Puumala serotype; severe and frequently fatal outcomes with Hantaan serotype, and generally milder, though potentially, fatal, clinical variant with Seoul serotype. Conclusions. There is a considerable clinical as well as regional overlap, and geographic origin of the disease necessarily reveals a predictable pattern of illness. Moreover, there is emerging evidence that clinical patters as well as severity may vary by hantaviral serotypes within a given geographic region. To what extent hantavirus virulence variations and its differ ent pathogenic consequences affect the human being is not yet known. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been introduced as a method in studying variation and relatedness among hantavirus isolates at molecular level during recent years. Such analyses have proven to be very useful on classifying therefore, holding hantaviruses, great potential for future molecular epidemiological studies.
Descriptors		HEMORRHAGIC FEVER, EPIDEMIC HANTAVIRUS GENOME, VIRAL RODENTIA INSECTIVORA