Hantavirus Infections in Scandinavia

Thursday, December 18th, 2008

A recent report of Hemorrhagic Fever and Renal Syndrome (HFRS) activity in Finland reminds us that this country continues to report the highest rates for Hantavirus infection in the region. In the attached graph, I’ve compared disease reporting in Finland with that of neighboring countries.

hanta-finland

Update: Appeared in ProMED

Using GIDEON to diagnose hemorrhagic disease in China

Tuesday, July 29th, 2008

In an undiagnosed case of hemorrhagic disease in China, Marjorie Pollack, a ProMED editor, used GIDEON to help figure out the differential diagnosis. From the ProMED note:

Using the database of the Global Infectious Disease and Epidemiology Network (GIDEON ) to see possible etiologies for a hemorrhagic fever syndrome in China, the most likely diagnosis would be Old World hantavirus infection (57 percent probability), followed by _Streptococcus suis_ infection (40 percent), leptospirosis (1.8 percent) and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF — less than one percent probability).

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