Tag Archives: World Health Organization

Hidden Price of a Cruise: Hantavirus’ Effect on the Brain

A cruise though the South Atlantic sounds like a dream vacation, but for eighteen Americans, the trip ended as a nightmare. After MV Hondius returned to the United States on May 11, two passengers were placed in biocontainment units because they had developed Andes virus, a strain of the hantavirus. The World Health Organization confirmed this, with eight cases and three deaths reported as of May 8.

In relation to the neurological effects of the virus, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome invades the brain indirectly. Drawing on cases traceable to the 1993 American Southwest outbreak and documented in NLM PubMed literature as far back as 1998, the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society found that hantavirus pulmonary syndrome survivors exhibited cognitive impairments immediately after acute hospitalization and again at a one-year follow-up, with memory deficits resembling those seen in patients who have suffered brain anoxia, starving the brain of oxygen in a way that mirrors traumatic anoxic injury. Some research also suggests the virus may damage the blood-brain barrier, producing CNS symptoms including headache, insomnia, and vertigo, though this remains incompletely understood. Lasting effects include fatigue, memory loss, and attentional deficits.

Treatment mirrors the approach taken with other forms of acquired brain injury: supportive intensive care, cognitive rehabilitation, and neuropsychological monitoring. A 2024 multicenter cohort study of Andes virus survivors in Chile found that 61.9% reported incomplete recovery at three to six months post-onset, with clustering of both physical and neuropsychological symptoms across patient groups regardless of whether they required extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Responding to the 2026 cruise ship outbreak, Admiral Brian Christine, the Department of Health and Human Services’ assistant secretary for health, told reporters, “Let me be crystal clear: the risk of hantavirus to the general public remains very, very low. The Andes variant of this virus does not spread easily.” While the virus can be spread from person-to-person, Andes virus spreads primarily through contact with the urine, saliva, or droppings of infected rodents. Unfortunately, there is currently no approved vaccine for hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in the United States.

Mercury on the Mind – 2

Following the posting of my last article, I found additional interesting information about mercury and dentistry (dentistry may not be the primary use of mercury, but it is the most visible one).  Although mercury is no longer toxic once it is absorbed into a compound in a dental filling, laws regarding the use, particularly the dental use, of mercury exist.  For example, in New York, the environmental conservation law was amended in 2002 to state, “no dentist shall use or possess elemental mercury in the practice of dentistry unless such elemental mercury is contained in appropriate pre-encapsulated capsules.”

As it relates to a medical procedure that many brain injury survivors undergo, this summer the journal Radiology published an article: High-Strength MRI May Release Mercury from Amalgam Dental Fillings.  Further study of the possible effects of MRIs and mercury, show that while MRIs on someone who has mercury in their body may not cause or cause harm to a brain injury per se, NIH studies, “provide further support for the noxious effect of MRI (exposure to strong magnetic field) and release of mercury from dental amalgam fillings.”  (Additionally, MRIs can harm implants, such as brain stimulators, which may contain mercury.)

(In relation to the use of the ten chemicals of health public concern, particularly as it relates to dentistry, I would also advice people to be wary of fluoride.  The World Health Organization warns of both inadequate or excess fluoride intake.  Just like mercury, fluoride can help teeth at certain levels, but overexposure can lead to such things as tooth decay and skeletal fluorosis.  Smile! New water fluoridation level called for by government read the title of a CNBC article related to the 2015 federal increase in the amount of fluoride allowed in drinking water.  In fact, all articles I found related to this increase were positive.)