Acute Respiratory Distress Case Study - Essay Example

Case Study: Acute Respiratory Distress                 Case Study: Acute Respiratory Distress The case study presents a man with the symptoms of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome or HPS (“Vector-Borne,” 2011). HPS triggers a series of symptoms in the infected person such as labored and rapid breathing as well as shortness of breath (“Acute respiratory distress,” 2010). These symptoms are both present in the young man in the case study. He also shows other symptoms such as tachypnea and tachycardia, which are both characteristic of HPS (Siegel, 2011).

The bearing of this diagnosis with the cabin rests upon the idea that a cabin is an enclosed area and that usually HPS occurs in a shed or cabin closed for some time but which is improperly cleaned (“Facts about Hantaviruses,” 2011; “Hantavirus,” 2011). This enclosed area usually contains rodent excreta, which when inhaled by a human would cause HPS (Siegel, 2011). The virus, specifically known as Sin Nombre Virus or SNV, has a rodent host – which is usually the deer mouse, the white-footed mouse, the cotton rat and the rice rat (Siegel, 2011; “Facts about Hantaviruses,” CDC, 2011).

It is the excreta from these rodents, usually in the form of urine, saliva or feces, that contains the virus (Siegel, 2011). When the charge nurse said, “I knew there was a good reason not to clean my house,” she was referring to the improper way of cleaning the cabin where the young male patient most likely acquired HPS. It was partly the fault of the girlfriend, who considered herself a “neat freak” and who was “constantly cleaning and disinfecting.” Little did she know that there was probably rat excreta in the cabin which was inhaled by her boyfriend right after she cleaned it improperly.

According to Siegel (2011), “peridomestic activities associated with HPS were cleaning food storage areas or outbuildings” and this was probably what the girlfriend always did. However, since the proper way of cleaning up rodent excreta is by NOT sweeping or vacuuming and since the girlfriend probably did exactly this, then it caused the virus-infested excreta particles to go into the air and reach the boyfriend’s lungs by inhalation (“Facts about Hantaviruses, CDC, 2011). However, the question remains on whether the disease is found only in the Southwest or what factors exactly determine the places where the SNV might be present.

Based on past data, the disease has actually spread to the neighboring states like South Dakota and North Dakota. In fact, only after two months from the attack in the Southwest in May 1993, there were cases found in Nevada, Texas, California and Louisiana, and that by December 1994, there was a confirmed total of 108 cases of HPS in 21 states, but where 56% of the cases confined in the Southwest (Siegel, 2011).The most probable reason, however, that the disease was concentrated in the Southwest was the fact that a wet winter occurred in 1993 thus, there was an unexpectedly large crop of nuts and other food on which rodents subsisted.

The increase in vegetation that ensued from the wet winter may have also triggered a corresponding increase in rodent population (Siegel, 2011; Engelthaler et al., 1999). Moreover, Engelthaler et al. (1999) stipulated that the temperatures in January 1993 were unusually higher than average and that this may have promoted survival of rodents during the coldest months of the year. Another probable factor that explains the concentration of the disease in the Southwest was the higher elevations of the pinyon-jupiter woodland, the Great Basin scrub desert biomes, and the grassland.

These areas are teeming with a wide variety of plant species that may have served as food for the growing rodent population (Engelthaler, 1999). The factors and conditions stated above may not only refer to the environment in the Southwest that triggered the HPS outbreak but also to any other area of the world with similar conditions.ReferencesAcute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. (2010). Retrieved Sept. 13, 2011 from the National Institutes of Health: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001164/Engelthaler, D.M., Mosley, D. G., Cheek, J. E., Levy, C. E., Komatsu, K. K., Ettestad, P.

, Davis, T., Tanda, D. T., Miller, L., Frampton, J. W., Porter R. and Bryan, R. T. (1999). “Climatic and Environmental Patterns Associated with Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, Four Corners Region, United States.” Emerging Infectious Diseases, 5(1), 87-93. Retrieved Sept. 13, 2011 from the National Institutes of Health: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2627709/pdf/10081675.pdfFacts About Hantaviruses. (2011). Retrieved Sept. 13, 2011 from Arizona Department of Health Services: http://www.azdhs.gov/phs/oids/vector/hps/files/adhs_hps_package_03_2006.

pdfHantavirus. (2011). Retrieved Sept. 13, 2011 from the University of Pittsburgh: http://www.iacuc.pitt.edu/occhealth/hantavirus.htmSiegel, R. D. (2011). Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome. Retrieved Sept. 13, 2011 from Stanford University: http://www.stanford.edu/~siegelr/uda.htmlVector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases Program: Hantavirus. (2011). Retrieved Sept. 13, 2011 from the Arizona Department of Health Services: http://www.azdhs.gov/phs/oids/vector/hps/hps.htm