Acute Respiratory Distress Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Acute Respiratory Distress Case Study - Essay Example area and that usually HPS occurs in a shed or cabin closed for some time but which is improperly cleaned (â€Å"Facts about Hantaviruses,† 2011; â€Å"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; â€Å"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, â€Å"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 â€Å"neat freak† and who was â€Å"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), â€Å"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 (â€Å"Facts about Hantaviru ses, 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,