Treatment

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rows of bottles and pills in a pharmacySupportive therapy is important in Lujo hemorrhagic fever. This includes:

  • maintenance of hydration
  • management of shock
  • sedation
  • pain relief
  • usual precautions for patients with bleeding disorders
  • transfusions (when necessary)

Treatment of arenavirus hemorrhagic fevers with convalescent plasma therapy reduces mortality significantly and anectodal evidence from the only surviving Lujo patient shows that the antiviral drug ribavirin may hold promise in the treatment of LUHF. Ribavirin has been considered for preventing development of disease in people exposed to other arenaviruses.

Recovery

The precise mortality of LUHF is unknown, but 4 of 5 described cases were fatal.

Patients who have suffered from other arenaviruses may excrete virus in urine or semen for weeks after recovery. For this reason, these fluids should be monitored for infectivity, since convalescent patients have the potential to infect others (particularly sexual partners) via these fluids.

Page last reviewed: June 18, 2013
Content source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology (DHCPP), Viral Special Pathogens Branch (VSPB)