The Role of Nursing in the Prevention, Early Identification, and Management of Patients With Hantavirus Infection

Hantavirus disease remains an uncommon but clinically important zoonotic infection because it can deteriorate rapidly, produce multisystem complications, and require highly coordinated supportive care. In humans, hantaviruses cause two principal syndromes: hantavirus pulmonary syndrome or hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome, which predominates in the Americas, and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which predominates in Europe and Asia. Across both syndromes, the dominant pathobiology includes endothelial dysfunction, capillary leak, thrombocytopenia, and dysregulated inflammatory responses. These features make nursing surveillance crucial from the first patient encounter through critical care, discharge planning, and public-health follow-up. This review synthesizes the evidence on the nursing role in primary prevention, community and occupational education, triage, early recognition of red-flag symptoms, laboratory surveillance, hemodynamic and respiratory monitoring, renal support, bleeding-risk management, infection prevention and control, and patient-family education. The literature suggests that direct nursing-specific interventional studies are limited; therefore, the strongest nursing recommendations must be derived from multidisciplinary hantavirus reviews, outbreak investigations, and current public-health guidance. The evidence consistently supports a nursing model centered on exposure-history screening, early escalation of suspected cases, meticulous fluid and oxygenation management, careful monitoring for shock and acute kidney injury, and integrated collaboration with infection-control and public-health teams. In rare, high-acuity infections such as hantavirus disease, nursing care is not ancillary to treatment; it is one of the main determinants of safe recognition, timely escalation, and survival.

Keywords:

Hantavirus , hantavirus pulmonary syndrome , hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome , hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome , nursing care , early detection , infection prevention , critical care nursing