[Acute renal failure in hantavirus infections].

Background: The acute renal failure remains a diagnostic challenge for the clinician.

Case Reports: Between 1991 and 1996, acute renal failure caused by hantavirus infection was diagnosed in 4 previously healthy male patients. Main symptoms consisted of fever, headache, arthralgia, lumbar and abdominal pain as well as a decline in diuresis.

A new Clethrionomys-derived hantavirus from Germany: evidence for distinct genetic sublineages of Puumala viruses in Western Europe.

Puumala (PUU) viruses are the predominant etiologic agents of hantavirus infections in Europe. The most important reservoir is the bank vole, Clethrionomys glareolus (Cg), belonging to the subfamily Arvicolinae of the Muridae family. Here we report on the molecular characterization of the first rodent-derived sequence (PUU/Cg-Erft) from Germany.

Polymerase chain reaction detection of Puumala virus RNA in formaldehyde-fixed biopsy material.

Background: Infections with hantaviruses, mainly Clethrionomys-derived Puumala viruses, are known causes of acute renal failure [hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS)] in western Europe. Laboratory diagnosis is primarily based on serology. At the time of clinical symptoms, viral RNA can hardly be detected in the blood or urine, indicating that polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is of little diagnostic value for these infections.

[Acute hantavirus infection caused by a genetically newly identified viral strain. Severe and complicated course of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (nephropathia epidemica)].

History And Clinical Findings: A 49-year-old patient, a hobby hunter, fell ill acutely with joint and limb pain, abdominal pain, nausea and subfebrile temperatures. At hospitalization, the patient was in bad general condition, showing ascites and lid edema, and acute renal failure was diagnosed.

Investigations: Laboratory tests revealed marked thrombocytopenia (15,000/ml), leucocytosis, elevated levels of creatinine, blood urea nitrogen and liver enzymes, respectively.