The clinical spectrum of human hantavirus infection in Somerset, UK.

The signs and symptoms exhibited by 29 patients with an acute illness in whom antibodies to hantavirus were detected are described. In the severe cases the most striking signs and symptoms were the persistence for 2 or 3 weeks of a severe sore throat with pyrexia that developed early in the illness, followed by swelling of the face, neck and extremities, with arthropathy and prolonged malaise that lasted for months. A macular erythematous rash, hepatomegaly with abnormal liver function tests, and a tendency to haemorrhage was a later feature of the severe cases. Mild cases presented with a variety of signs and symptoms that were very difficult to link together as a syndrome.