A 27-year-old mom who went to the hospital for what she thought was the flu has been diagnosed with a rodent-carried Hantavirus that leads to organ failure and death in more than a third of patients.
A month ago, Kiley Lane was planning a trip to Costa Rica and today she is fighting for her life at a hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The rare virus enters the bloodstream after contact with infected deer mice causing hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) that extensively damages the lungs, heart and other organs, killing 36 percent of those infected.
There have been fewer than 1,000 cases of the virus reported in the US since it was first identified in 1993.
Kiley Lane, 27, went to the hospital for what she thought was the flu but was diagnosed with a rare rodent-carried Hantavirus on February 5. She is pictured right with her daughter
In its early stages, hantivirus typically presents with flu-like symptoms, making it easy to misdiagnose.
In early January, Lane was experiencing nausea and sharp stomach pains, so her husband Kevin convinced her to go to the hospital in Farmington, New Mexico, thinking that she had the flu.
Doctors told her that she had a blockage and sent her home with laxatives, but a few weeks later she returned to the hospital complaining of shortness of breath.
Lane was tested for pneumonia, the flu virus, hepatitis, and other possible causes for her symptoms but everything came back negative.
‘She was getting sicker and sicker and nobody seemed to want to listen,’ Lane’s mom, Julie Barron, told Fox News. ‘At one point they thought she might be faking it.’
Her condition continued to deteriorate to the point that she was put on a ventilator.
Finally, a test for Hantavirus came back positive, and Lane was airlifted to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque.
HPS causes infections in various organs that weaken blood vessels, making them leak.
The body attempts to fight the virus by creating inflammation, which combines with the organ infections and leads to intense damage throughout the body.
In the lungs, leaky blood vessels cause flooding in the air sacs, making it difficult for patients to breathe.
When the virus infects the heart, the damage reduces its ability to circulate blood through the body causing critically low blood pressure and a lack of oxygen throughout the body.
This can rapidly lead to organ failure and death.
Hantavirus typically enters the bloodstream after contact with infected deer mice (pictured) or their feces and urine
While there is no known cure for Hantavirus or HPS and nearly four in 10 people infected are killed, those who do recover do so rapidly with the help of supportive care, according to the CHEST Foundation.
Supportive care includes oxygen therapy, fluid replacement, and use of blood pressure medications to support blood pressure.
In some cases, antiviral drugs are used to treat strains of hantavirus, but no large trials have proven them to be effective.
Lane has been hooked up to an Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) machine for 21 days, which takes on the duties of the heart and lungs by pumping and oxygenating a patient’s blood.
‘This virus starts attacking your body, it damages your organs,’ Barron said. ‘The first thing that happened with Kiley is her lungs. They’re in real critical shape.’
‘A month ago, she was planning a trip to Costa Rica with her best friend from college. Now she can’t even go to the bathroom by herself,’ Barron said. ‘She hasn’t seen or talked to her daughter in a month. She can’t even watch TV.’
Sherri Hull, a family friend, set up a YouCaring page to raise money for Lane’s medical bills. More than 160 people have already donated to the cause, raising $23,720.
Through Facebook the family was connected with a couple who had experienced the virus years ago.
‘We had an awesome God-thing happen,’ Barron wrote on the YouCaring page. ‘Cam and Angie Dockery drove several hours round-trip to come visit Kiley.
‘Cam survived this virus 12 years ago and came to give us hope and encouragement. I am certain we will now be friends with Cam and Angie for life.
‘It is a humbling thing to see God’s hand at work each day.’
While Barron patiently waits for small signs that her daughter’s health is improving, she said she’s going to devote her time to spreading awareness for the deadly virus.
‘We can’t sit back and let things like this be swept under the carpet,’ Barron said.
‘I want people to know about the virus and to keep the name in open communications, so that nobody else has to go through this. Not one person.’
As of January 2017, a total of only 728 HPS cases had been reported across 36 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The majority of cases were reported in states west of the Mississippi River.
Barron said that she wants people to know how they may be at risk.
‘It’s not like [Lane] was digging through a dumpster or around infected rodents. She was doing her normal, everyday routine – sweeping the porch, wiping off a box with a paper towel,’ Barron said.
‘Everyone has the impression: “That’s never going to happen to me”.’