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Introduction: Hantavirus is transmitted by inhalation of aerosols contaminated with rat excretions, generating a cardiopulmonary syndrome occurring more frequently in the Americas. A favorable environment for the development are wetlands like Chapare, Bolivia. Diagnosis and treatment of hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome may be delayed in areas where dengue is endemic due to the unspecific symptoms in the early stages of both virosis.
Case report: Male patient, 33 years old working in Chapare turns out at the emergency room of Caja Petrolera de Salud with a history of five days of evolution presenting unquantified thermal evolution ups and epistaxis. He is admitted for suspected dengue with warning signs of epistaxis and thrombocytopenia. In the course of a few hours is established an acute respiratory distress syndrome occurring rapidly evolving to metabolic acidosis, cardiogenic shock and hemodynamic deterioration leading to death of the patient.
Discussion: The difficulty in the diagnosis of hantavirus resides in the absence of a characteristic clinical presentation and usually it is suspected due to its quick evolution to the cardiopulmonary syndrome. Demography plays an important role, the same as the epidemiological nexus, key elements that allow us to make differential diagnosis and to come to an accurate diagnosis.
