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Hantaviruses belong to the family Bunyaviridae. They occur throughout the world in several different serotypes. The Puumula virus is the main form in central and northern Europe. Rodents are the natural reservoir, particularly mice and rats. The viruses are transmitted to man in the excretions of infected animals, which are swirled up in dust and breathed in. People who spend a lot of time outdoors, such as hunters, foresters and soldiers, are thought to be at particular risk.
Hantaviruses of the Puumala serotype cause a mild form of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which is also known as epidemic nephropathy (EN). The incubation period is 10 to 20 days. The illness starts with general symptoms resembling flu, including headache, myalgia, chills and conjunctivitis. Additional clinical manifestations include abdominal and lumbar pain and transient impaired renal function, which may even require dialysis treatment. The mortality of epidemic nephropathy is about 1%. The clinical course of epidemic nephropathy is milder than that of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, caused by viruses of the Hantaan type.
Hantavirus infections are usually diagnosed from the clinical presentation, together with the results of serological tests. Laboratory confirmation of an infection is usually based on the detection of IgM and IgG antibodies to hantaviruses of serotypes Puumala and Hantaan.
SERION ELISA classic Hantavirus Puumala IgG or IgM allows the qualitative and quantitative determination in serum or plasma of human IgG- or IgM antibodies to the nucleocapsid protein of hantavirus of serotype Puumala. Infections with other hantavirus serotypes, such as Hantaan virus, are not always detectable.
Product (Order-no.)
Hantavirus Puumala IgG (ESR145G)
Hantavirus Puumala IgM (ESR145M)
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