New Mexico boy, 9, dies after contracting deadly RAT disease that left him on life support

A nine-year-old New Mexico boy has passed away nine months after he contracted a rare and deadly rat disease.

Fernando Hernandez, from Bloomfield, started experiencing flu-like symptoms, including fever, vomiting and lethargy, in January.

He was hospitalized after he began having trouble breathing and – after weeks of tests – he was diagnosed with hantavirus, a disease spread through rodent droppings that cripples the organs.

While waiting for a heart-lung transplant, Fernando suffered a brain hemorrhage that left him brain dead. His parents made the heartbreaking decision to take him off life support.

Fernando Hernandez, nine (pictured), from Bloomfield, New Mexico, passed away after a long battle with hantavirus, a rare and deadly rat disease that cripples the organs

The boy began experiencing flu-like symptoms in January. After being hospitalized twice and weeks of inconclusive tests, Fernando (pictured) was properly diagnosed

The boy began experiencing flu-like symptoms in January. After being hospitalized twice and weeks of inconclusive tests, Fernando (pictured) was properly diagnosed

Near the end of January, Fernando began vomiting but his parents, George Fernandez and Anna Granados, told The Farmington Daily Times they assumed he’d come down with the flu.

But, when his symptoms didn’t improve, he was taken to San Juan Regional Medical Center, where he spent 10 days.

Despite an X-ray that revealed spots on his lungs, no tests were conclusive so was sent home with antibiotics.

WHAT IS HANTAVIRUS? 

Hantavirus is found in wild rodents, such as mice and rats. 

Humans can contract the virus by coming into contact with infected rodent droppings, urine, saliva and nesting materials. 

Diagnosis can be difficult because early symptoms often resemble other more common viruses such as the flu.

The virus can lead to Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), a condition that infects the heart, lungs and other organs by weakening blood vessels and causing them to leak. 

The body attempts to fight the virus by creating inflammation, which -combined with the organ infection – 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 the organ’s ability to circulate blood through the body. This causes critically low blood pressure and a lack of oxygen throughout the body, which can quickly lead to organ failure and death.

There have been 728 total cases reported in just 36 US states as of January 2017. 

The virus is fatal in 36 percent of cases.

Source: CDC 

However, just a few days later, the boy was struggling to breathe on his own. His parents rushed him to the emergency room, where he was airlifted to Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora.

Doctors still couldn’t figure out what was wrong but, when Fernando’s heart began to fail, he had to undergo numerous surgeries before being hooked up to an Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) machine.

The machine pumps and oxygenates a patient’s blood outside the body, which allows the heart and lungs to rest. 

Finally, in late February, Fernando was diagnosed with hantavirus.  

The rare virus is caused by coming into contact with infected rodent droppings, urine, saliva, nesting materials, or inhaling particles from these.

About two months before Fernando was diagnosed, his father asked him to clean the backyard and he wonders if that was the cause.  

‘Farmington is a farming community and they tell us it’s in the soil,’ George Hernandez told Fox News in March. 

‘I had my son help me clean the backyard two months ago – I just really hope it wasn’t that.’

Diagnosis can be difficult because early symptoms often resemble other more common viruses such as the flu.

The virus can cause blood to leak into the lungs, making it difficult to breathe, and weakens blood vessels so that blood and oxygen cannot be circulated throughout the body.

The infection can lead to Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, which can lead to respiratory failure and death. 

According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, there have been 728 total cases reported in the US as of January 2017.

The agency adds that only 36 states have reported cases, the overwhelming majority in states west of the Mississippi River.

Fernando’s parents told The Daily Times that their son had been at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Ohio where he was working to get strong enough to have a heart-lung transplant.

But, on October 26, he suffered a brain hemorrhage that left him brain dead. The family made the painful decision to take him off of life support.

‘We really thought he was going to make it,’ George Hernandez told the newspaper. 

While waiting to get a heart-lung transplant, Fernando (pictured) suffered a brain hemorrhage in October, which left him brain dead

His parents made the heartbreaking decision to take him off of life support. Pictured: Fernando in the hospital

While waiting to get a heart-lung transplant, Fernando (left and right) suffered a brain hemorrhage in October which left him brain dead. His parents made the heartbreaking decision to take him off of life support

Hantavirus is caused by coming into contact with infected rodent droppings, urine, saliva, nesting materials, or inhaling particles from these (file image)

Hantavirus is caused by coming into contact with infected rodent droppings, urine, saliva, nesting materials, or inhaling particles from these (file image)

A GoFundMe page has been set up help cover Fernando’s funeral expenses. So far, more than $4,500 has been raised out of a $15,000 goal.  

‘Fernando had hopes and dreams of getting out of the hospital one day and return to his normal life…school, friends, family etc.,’ his father wrote on the page.

‘Unfortunately destiny took another route…I can tell you the last few weeks weren’t all that great for him…he was in constant pain but was holding on.’

Hernandez is the second New Mexican resident to die of hantavirus this year.

In February, 27-year-old Kiley Lane was diagnosed with the illness, and was on life support for more than two months.

The Daily Times reports that she died on April 18 at the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk