Hantavirus infection among childrenhospitalized for febrile illness suspectedto be dengue in Barbados

Emerging picture of hantavirus infection in the South America is charac-terized by greater proportion of childhood infection and wider spectrum of diseasefrom mild asymptomatic to lethal cardiopulmonary disease. Barbados is endemic fordengue and leptospirosis, both of which share clinical features with hantavirus infec-tion and in many cases neither of these diagnosis could be confirmed. We investigatewhether some of the children hospitalized with suspected dengue could indeedhave been hantavirus infections. In this prospective study children hospitalized withsuspected dengue were tested for hantavirus infection using ELISA for the IgM anti-bodies. Thirty-eight children tested positive for hantavirus infection. They presentedwith fever, headache and mild respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms and signs.None of them had features suggestive of hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome.Blood count values ranged from low to normal to high for their age. There were nodeaths. Hantavirus infection is prevalent in this Caribbean country. It predominantlypresents with milder disease and is responsible for some of the nonspecific febrileillnesses in children