‘Here it is again,’ Pueblo woman remembers cases of hantavirus from decades ago, one being her mother
COLORADO. Colo. (KRDO) - A cruise ship viral outbreak has led to 11 confirmed cases of hantavirus, gripping the attention of people around the world.
Health officials in Colorado are urging precautionary measures as nearly 20 other individuals in the U.S. are currently being monitored for the disease.
Colorado has the second-highest number of documented Hantavirus cases in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Hantavirus is transmitted through mouse droppings, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tracked Hantavirus cases in the U.S. since 1993. Since that time, the U.S. has seen 121 cases.
According to the Pueblo Health Department, Colorado has seen nearly 20 cases of hantavirus in the past decade, with more than five deaths during that period.
Among them is the mother of Judy Sandstrom. "When I seen it on TV, I go, 'Oh, here it is again," Sandstrom said. Her mother, Dalores, was hospitalized with hantavirus more than 20 years ago and this recent outbreak is bringing all those memories back to the surface.
Sandstrom shared her initial lack of familiarity with the illness at the time of her mother's diagnosis. "I never heard of it before. I didn't even know anything about the hantavirus," Sandstrom said.
The disease put her mother, Dalores, in the hospital for two weeks. Dalores was in the intensive care unit and on a ventilator. Sandstrom described the severe impact of the illness. "You drown in your own tissues. So she was in ICU for quite a while," Sandstrom said.
Sandstrom explained how her mother likely contracted the virus. "She just walked out on her deck and, she caught it that way. Apparently, somebody was cleaning their shed out, and it went airborne, and she got it," Sandstrom said.
In the wake of another outbreak, Sandstrom actively educates others about prevention. "My whole family knows that if they see mouse droppings... that they know what to do. And I tell everybody, you know that I know, if you're cleaning some place, please make that bleach solution, spray it on and just let it dry and then sweep it up. Then you're safe," Sandstrom said.
Sandstrom's mother did recover from hantavirus but later died from unrelated circumstances.
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