Showing posts with label Infectious diseases. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Infectious diseases. Show all posts

Friday, May 08, 2026

Hantavirus: Origin, symptoms, prevention, and treatment guide

 

An image showing hantavirus transmission from rodents to humans, with visual highlights of symptoms and prevention methods.

An image showing hantavirus transmission from rodents to humans, with visual highlights of symptoms and prevention methods.  


Hantavirus is a dangerous rodent‑borne virus known for causing severe respiratory and renal illnesses in humans. It spreads mainly through contact with infected rodent urine, droppings, or saliva, which can become airborne and inhaled. 

 

Although infections are relatively rare, the virus can lead to life‑threatening complications, making awareness and prevention essential for public health.


Why is it called Hanta?


The name “Hanta” comes from the Hantaan River region in South Korea. This is where the virus was first identified during investigations into mysterious illnesses affecting soldiers. The river’s name became the basis for the virus family now known globally as hantaviruses.


Viruses often get its name at the places where they first occurred. The virus is called “Hanta” because of its geographical origin. The earliest known cases occurred near the Hantaan River, and the name honors the location where the virus was first studied and understood.


The virus was first recognized during the Korean War (1950–1953), when thousands of United Nations soldiers developed severe fever, internal bleeding, and kidney complications. Researchers later traced the cause to rodents living near the Hantaan River. Since then, different hantavirus strains have been discovered worldwide, each linked to specific rodent species.


Symptoms of Hantavirus


Hantavirus symptoms usually appear 1–8 weeks after exposure. Early signs often resemble the flu, including fever, fatigue, muscle aches, headaches, dizziness, and abdominal discomfort. As the illness progresses, symptoms depend on the type of hantavirus infection.


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Hantavirus Cardiopulmonary Syndrome (HCPS): coughing, shortness of breath, rapid fluid buildup in the lungs.


Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS): low blood pressure, internal bleeding, and kidney failure. Both conditions can be fatal without urgent medical care.


How to prevent its spread


Preventing hantavirus infection focuses on reducing contact with rodents. Homes and workplaces should be sealed to block rodent entry, and food should be stored in airtight containers.


When cleaning areas with rodent droppings, avoid sweeping or vacuuming, as this can release virus particles into the air. Instead, use disinfectant solutions and protective gloves. Maintaining good hygiene and controlling rodent populations remain the most effective prevention strategies.


Treatment for Hantavirus


There is no specific antiviral medication for hantavirus. Treatment is supportive and depends on the severity of the illness. Patients with HCPS may require oxygen therapy or mechanical ventilation, while those with HFRS may need dialysis for kidney support.


Related health post: The wellness plate: Simple eating habits that transform your health


Early diagnosis and immediate medical attention significantly improve survival rates. Since the virus does not spread easily between humans, prevention remains the strongest defense.

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

COVID-19 in Africa and developed nations: Examining differences in vaccination and mortality

 

Image of coronavirus

The coronavirus


There are many people worldwide, especially in developed countries, protesting against the mandatory coronavirus vaccination for different reasons. 


Many think the virus doesn’t even exist, while others think the vaccines are either responsible for the spread of the virus or killing people.


In such arguments, I am not a scientist to confirm the truth or lies about the coronavirus vaccines; however, what I know is that behind every pandemic, there are always lies and deceptions.

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

Secrets of HIV-AIDS and Ebola Journal relaunched for global readers

 

The late Dutch scientist and microsurgeon, Johan van Dongen; journalist and writer Joel Savage in Belgium; and the German medical doctor, Wolff Geisler.

The late Dutch scientist and microsurgeon, Johan van Dongen; journalist and writer Joel Savage in Belgium; and the German medical doctor, Wolff Geisler.


Dear readers,


We are pleased to announce the relaunch of Secrets of HIV-AIDS & Ebola Journal, an independent health blog dedicated to publishing articles on HIV, AIDS, haemorrhagic viruses, public health issues, and healthy living.

 

For several years, the publication attracted readers seeking alternative perspectives and in-depth discussions on important health topics affecting communities around the world. After a period of inactivity, the journal has returned with a renewed commitment to delivering thought-provoking content, health awareness, and informative reporting.

Saturday, November 07, 2020

Cryptosporidiosis and Dried Milk: Examining Global Public Health Concerns

Photo: Dried milk contaminated with cryptosporidia virus were shipped from the USA to Cuba, Costa Rica, Liberia, Congo, Uganda, Haiti and South Africa

Photo: Dried milk contaminated with cryptosporidia virus was shipped from the USA to Cuba, Costa Rica, Liberia, Congo, Uganda, Haiti, and South Africa.


The USA is a country that has an enormous appetite to destroy others. Yet, they can't stand the pain and destruction they deliberately inflict on others, especially in the Third World.

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Ebola in Africa and Coronavirus in America: Hard lessons for the world


The Ebola and COVID-19 viruses

The Ebola and COVID-19 viruses


This is an article I am expecting foreign journalists who pretend to be interested in Africa to put forward: the fact that, despite Africa’s fragile healthcare system, they have the courage, experience, and strength to face the reality of epidemics more than the United States of America.



To politicians around the globe and health institutions, including the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control, lying is part of politics and the handling of state affairs, hoping it will create a wonderful world, but no one is seeing that today.


I care about humanity, whether black, white, Chinese, or Japanese; therefore, assuming I am a scientist, I don’t think I will ever have the desire to hurt a human being, let alone to create a disease to target a particular race and to tell the world that primates, bats, or monkeys are responsible.


We must acknowledge the fact that bad policies, greed, selfishness, and the lack of conscience and integrity in politics have destroyed the world beyond remedy, even more than global warming. 


I do laugh sometimes about the hypocrisy behind global warming conferences. World leaders want us to know that if human beings don’t change their ways of living to make the world a better place, all of us will perish because of the threat of global warming.


Yet, the same world leaders who want to change things to save the planet have no intention of talking about the use of deliberate biological weapons on humans. The fact is that certain epidemics or diseases that often took their toll on third-world citizens were man-made.


We can’t ignore the fact that HIV and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) are global issues at the moment, but it was meant for Africa. Before anyone questions me about this remark, I will first ask you a simple question.


According to the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control, poverty and the lack of education are some of the reasons HIV/AIDS took its toll heavily on Africans compared to any other race in the world. If that's true, why is it that African Americans have been killed by the same disease in America as any other race? Are they also experiencing poverty and illiteracy?


This is enough to acknowledge the fact that there are certain people out there who create diseases with the intention to destroy a particular race. 


Why should one particular continent, called Africa, inhabited by black people, suffer slavery, brutalities of colonialism, apartheid, Aids, and Ebola biological weapons if the so-called superpowers or advanced countries want Africa to be a successful continent?


The Ebola biological weapon that was triggered by the US government, under the administration of Barack Obama, in the eyes of the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control, was a crime against humanity.


Instead, they lied to the world that bats are responsible for the spread of the virus that killed over 11,000 people in the West African countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia, and then continuously killed the Congolese for their rich resources.


In a world where people easily believe lies rather than the truth, many still follow the lies of the Centers for Disease Control without a slight knowledge that Ebola is a biological weapon, since the CDC has posted these blatant lies on their website about the Ebola virus.



CDC’s lies about the Ebola biological weapon



The initial case, or index patient, was reported in December 2013. An 18-month-old boy from a small village in Guinea is believed to have been infected by bats. After five additional cases of fatal diarrhoea occurred in that area, an official medical alert was issued on January 24, 2014, to the district health officials.


The Ebola virus soon spread to Guinea’s capital city of Conakry, and on March 13, 2014, the Ministry of Health in Guinea issued an alert for an unidentified illness. Shortly after, the Pasteur Institute in France confirmed the illness as EVD caused by the Zaire ebolavirus. On March 23, 2014, with 49 confirmed cases and 29 deaths, the WHO officially declared an outbreak of EVD.



This is enough to let every intelligent person who cares about proper healthcare and humanity acknowledge the fact that we now live in a dangerous world, since the CDC and WHO have filled their websites with false information about diseases that are biological weapons or man-made.


Everyone dreams of this world becoming a better place, free of crime and violence, yet we have presidents, celebrities, including film actresses, actors, and musicians, and rich people who care only about money and, therefore, wouldn’t raise their voices against crimes committed by the US government, the World Health Organization, or the Centers for Disease Control.


Those rich celebrities can’t stand losing their wealth and friends for speaking the truth, but they often forget that what goes around comes around. Today, American celebrities and the rich are facing the grim terror of the coronavirus. 


According to 'WorldOMeter', an international team of developers and researchers providing world statistics of the pandemic, America alone has registered 1,722,514 cases of the coronavirus, with 104,775 deaths.



I am not writing this article because I am happy about it, but the fact that innocent people have perished for nothing disturbs me, since they don’t deserve it. The US government has committed too many crimes against humanity, yet innocent people are those who receive wages.


The deliberate infection of Sierra Leoneans, Liberians, Guineans, and the Congolese with Ebola and the lies behind it have become a reality, such as the coronavirus in America, for the US government to learn something significant from them.
 

It’s only a matter of time; things will come to normal, but my question is, will America change its wicked policies or continue to steal Africans' resources through contaminated vaccines and biological weapons? A word to the wise is enough.

Sunday, April 05, 2020

THE CHLOROQUINE CONTROVERSY, WHO IS DR. DIDIER RAOULT?


Dr. Didier Raoult


Dr. Didier Raoult



Dr. Didier Raoult is the director of the Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire Méditerranée Infection in Marseille - Aix-Marseille University. He is in the first position among European researchers whose publications have been most cited by the international scientific community in the field of Infectious Diseases. 


This ranking was established in February 2017 based on the analysis of the number of citations of publications published in scientifically recognized Microbiology journals during a period of 7 years between 2007 and 2013. 
 

Professor Raoult published 636 articles between 2007 and 2013, and these articles were cited 18,128 times by scientists from the international community. This list was compiled from the Clarivate Analytics database, formerly Thomson Reuters.
 

On the other hand, Professor Didier Raoult, as well as four other researchers attached to the IHU Mediterranean Infection, appear on the list of researchers most cited by the international scientific community published by Clarivate Analytics - Highly Cited Researcher list. 


Epidemic and spread of diseases
 

Whenever there is an epidemic, the true story about it or its origin is always suppressed. What matters most to world leaders is to find vaccines to fight the disease. 
 

At times, there is already a vaccine for the disease, but the authorities may not make that information public to avoid the accusation that they are responsible for the disease, the reason they have already made vaccines to contain the disease.
 

This was the case about the Ebola biological weapon, which was triggered in the West African countries of Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leonefor in 2014, under the administration of Barack Obama.
 
 

The US government, the World Health Organization, and the Centers for Disease Control claimed bats were responsible for the spread of the disease, yet many had no idea that the US government had already made an Ebola vaccine ready called "EboBun." It's patent No. CA2741523A1, which was awarded in 2010. 
 

Did the US government have a dream about Ebola to make that vaccine? Not at all, they were aware that in 2014, they were going to test Ebola biological weapons in those West African countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, and Congo simultaneously, which is why they made that vaccine.


The Coronavirus or COVID-19
 

About the Coronavirus, all that we were told is that it started from a place called Wuhan in China. Since then, the virus has infected thousands of people around the globe and claimed its victims with a destructive impact, health workers are making it difficult to control.


The coronavirus is now in Africa, but the impact is not as disastrous as that of the United States of America and some European countries. The disease has affected thousands of Americans and killed over 65,000 people worldwide, while it continues to take its toll on Belgium, Spain, Italy, and any European country.
 

It seems there is no vaccine for the coronavirus yet because it ignited like a bush fire without any warning, but the fact we can’t ignore is that during an epidemic without any immediate vaccine to tackle the disease, European and American pharmaceutical companies are always interested in using Africans as Guinea pigs to test drugs. 
 

From the time of slavery, colonization, and the Apartheid era, till now, Europe and America have clandestinely used Africans as guinea pigs to test drugs. This is what Dr. Didier Raoult wants to avoid after the outbreak of the coronavirus or COVID-19.
 

In early February, Dr. Raoult believed that this disease, which is now the subject of a pandemic, defended the use of chloroquine to counter it. Indeed, this molecule, used for 75 years against malaria, could, according to him, overcome the coronavirus.
 

And it is not the exponential evolution of this virus that made the scientist change his mind. He has treated 24 of his patients with hydroxychloroquine. After six days, Didier Raoult had obtained good results, since 75% of them had a negative viral load, that is to say, the virus disappeared, and the patients were no longer contagious.
 
 

For comparison, 90% of patients treated without chloroquine, in Nice and Avignon, would still be contagious after the same number of days.


Support from Donald Trump
 

The scientist was also supported by Donald Trump, who praised the use of chloroquine to treat coronavirus, following trials in France and China: "We will be able to make this drug available almost immediately. It's very exciting. I think it could be a game-changer or maybe not, but from what I've seen, it could be," he said.
 

In a world where greed, selfishness, power, and politics dominate and corrupt governments, world leaders, including the US and the Chinese governments, want to make their vaccines ready for the market against the coronavirus.
 

Without any trial, this could prove fatal; therefore, the need for a trial is necessary. However, since new medications and vaccines easily find their way to African markets without much difficulty, Bill Gates has an intention to test a new coronavirus vaccine in Africa.
 

Corruption in Africa has allowed such dangerous vaccines to be available on African markets because the leaders care more about the money that those millionaires and big pharmaceutical companies offer them than the health of the poor masses. 
  

This is what Dr. Didier Raoult wants to avoid, but already he has become an enemy because it’s always easier for the ignorant to believe in lies than the truth. Raoult and his team have now decided to give hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin to all infected patients. 
 

"We also decided, for all the febrile patients who come to consult us, to practice the tests for the diagnosis of infection with COVID-19," one specified on the side of the institute, which did not fail to create queues in front of the establishment from Monday morning.
 

"I don't care what other people think. I am not an outsider; I am the one who is the most ahead. In my world, I am a world star; I am not at all against the tide. I do science, not politics. Infectious diseases are not very complicated; they are diagnosed and treated, said Dr. Didier Raoult in the columns of La Provence .”