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Management depends on the symptoms displayed, for example, if the individual indicates muscular-skeletal pain then paracetamol may be administered. If the individual presents with ocular problems, then prednisone and cyclopentolate may be used for treatment, according to the WHO.
There is currently no effective marburgvirus-specific therapy for MVD. Treatment is primarily supportive in nature and includes minimizing invasive procedures, balancing fluids and electrolytes to counter dehydration, administration of anticoagulants early in infection to prevent or control disseminated intravascular coagulation, administration of procoagulants late in infection to control hemorrhaging, maintaining oxygen levels, pain management, and administration of antibiotics or antimycotics to treat secondary infections. Experimentally, recombinant vesicular stomatitis Indiana virus (VSIV) expressing the glycoprotein of MARV has been used successfully in nonhuman primate models as post-exposure prophylaxis. Novel, very promising, experimental therapeutic regimens rely on antisense technology: phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers (PMOs) targeting the MARV genome could prevent disease in nonhuman primates. Leading medications from Sarepta and Tekmira both have been successfully used in European humans as well as primates.
The cornerstone of therapy is reduction in immunosuppression. A recent surge in BKVAN correlates with use of potent immunosuppressant drugs, such as tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF). Studies have not shown any correlation between BKVAN and a single immunosuppressive agent but rather the overall immunosuppressive load.
- No guidelines or drug levels and doses exist for proper reduction of immunosuppressants in BKVAN
- Most common methods:
1. Withdrawal of MMF or tacrolimus
2. Replacement of tacrolimus by cyclosporine
3. Overall reduction of immunosuppressive load
4. Some cyclosporine trough levels reported to be reduced to 100–150 ng/ml and tacrolimus levels reduced to 3–5 ng/ml
- Retrospective analysis of 67 patients concluded graft survival was similar between reduction and discontinuation of agents.
- Single center study showed renal allografts were preserved in 8/8 individuals managed with reduction in immunosuppression while graft loss occurred in 8/12 patients treated with an increase in therapy for what was thought to be organ rejection.
Other therapeutic options include Leflunomide, Cidofovir, IVIG, and the fluoroquinolones. Leflunomide, a pyrimidine synthesis inhibitor is now generally accepted as the second treatment option behind reduction of immunosuppression.
The rationale behind using leflunomide in BKVAN comes from its combined immunosuppressive and antiviral properties. Two studies consisting of 26 and 17 patients who developed BKVAN on a three-drug regimen of tacrolimus, MMF, and steroids had their MMF replaced with leflunomide 20–60 mg daily. 84 and 88% of patients, respectively had clearance or a progressive reduction in viral load and a stabilization or improvement of graft function (7). In a study conducted by Teschner et al. in 2009, 12/13 patients who had their MMF exchanged with leflunomide cleared the virus by 109 days. In a case series, there was improvement or stabilization in 23/26 patients with BKVAN after switching MMF to leflunomide.
There are no dosing guidelines for leflunomide in BKVAN. Patient to patient variability has made dosing and monitoring of leflunomide extremely difficult.
- Study of 26 and 17 patients were dosed between 20 mg/day and 60 mg/day with trough levels of 50—100 µg/ml. Failure was seen in patients with leflunomide plasma levels < 40 µg/ml.
- One study of 21 patients found that low levels ( 40 µg/ml) had similar effects on the rate of viral clearance. Those with higher levels had more adverse events (hematologic, hepatic).
- In the study by Teschner et al., dosages and drug concentration showed no correlation with substantial variation from person to person.
- In the Teschner study, low drug concentrations were associated with decrease in viral load. This makes it difficult to determine whether or not reduction of viral load or addition of leflunomide was the cause for viral clearance.
Treatment is symptomatic and supportive. Children with hydrocephalus often need a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. Nucleoside analog ribavirin is used in some cases due to the inhibitory effect the agent has "in vitro" on arenaviruses. However, there is not sufficient evidence for efficacy in humans to support routine use. The only survivor of a transplant-associated LCMV infection was treated with ribavirin and simultaneous tapering of the immunosuppressive medications. Early and intravenous ribavirin treatment is required for maximal efficacy, and it can produce considerable side effects. Ribavirin has not been evaluated yet in controlled clinical trials.
Use of ribavirin during pregnancy is generally not recommended, as some studies indicate the possibility of teratogenic effects. If aseptic meningitis, encephalitis, or meningoencephalitis develops in consequence to LCMV, hospitalization and supportive treatment may be required. In some circumstances, anti-inflammatory drugs may also be considered. In general, mortality is less than one percent.
All persons suspected of Lassa fever infection should be admitted to isolation facilities and their body fluids and excreta properly disposed of.
Early and aggressive treatment using ribavirin was pioneered by Joe McCormick in 1979. After extensive testing, early administration was determined to be critical to success. Additionally, ribavirin is almost twice as effective when given intravenously as when taken by mouth. Ribavirin is a prodrug which appears to interfere with viral replication by inhibiting RNA-dependent nucleic acid synthesis, although the precise mechanism of action is disputed. The drug is relatively inexpensive, but the cost of the drug is still very high for many of those in West African states. Fluid replacement, blood transfusion, and fighting hypotension are usually required. Intravenous interferon therapy has also been used.
When Lassa fever infects pregnant women late in their third trimester, induction of delivery is necessary for the mother to have a good chance of survival. This is because the virus has an affinity for the placenta and other highly vascular tissues. The fetus has only a one in ten chance of survival no matter what course of action is taken; hence, the focus is always on saving the life of the mother. Following delivery, women should receive the same treatment as other Lassa fever patients.
Work on a vaccine is continuing, with multiple approaches showing positive results in animal trials.
Medical management of VHF patients may require intensive supportive care. Antiviral therapy with intravenous ribavirin may be useful in Bunyaviridae and Arenaviridae infections (specifically Lassa fever, RVF, CCHF, and HFRS due to Old World Hantavirus infection) and can be used only under an experimental protocol as investigational new drug (IND) approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Interferon may be effective in Argentine or Bolivian hemorrhagic fevers (also available only as IND).
Treatment is primarily supportive in nature. Early supportive care with rehydration and symptomatic treatment improves survival. Rehydration may be via the oral or by intravenous route. These measures may include management of pain, nausea, fever and anxiety. The World Health Organization recommends avoiding the use of aspirin or ibuprofen for pain due to the bleeding risk associated with use of these medications.
Blood products such as packed red blood cells, platelets or fresh frozen plasma may also be used. Other regulators of coagulation have also been tried including heparin in an effort to prevent disseminated intravascular coagulation and clotting factors to decrease bleeding. Antimalarial medications and antibiotics are often used before the diagnosis is confirmed, though there is no evidence to suggest such treatment helps. A number of experimental treatments are being studied.
If hospital care is not possible, the World Health Organization has guidelines for care at home that have been relatively successful. In such situations, recommendations include using towels soaked in bleach solutions when moving infected people or bodies and applying bleach on stains. It is also recommended that the caregivers wash hands with bleach solutions and cover their mouth and nose with a cloth.
Treatments of proven efficacy are currently limited mostly to herpes viruses and human immunodeficiency virus. The herpes virus is of two types: herpes type 1 (HSV-1, or oral herpes) and herpes type 2 (HSV-2, or genital herpes). Although there is no particular cure; there are treatments that can relieve the symptoms. Drugs like Famvir, Zovirax, and Valtrex are among the drugs used, but these medications can only decrease pain and shorten the healing time. They can also decrease the total number of outbreaks in the surrounding. Warm baths also may relive the pain of genital herpes.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection (HIV) is treated by using a combination of medications to fight against the HIV infection in the body. This is called antiretroviral therapy (ART). ART is not a cure, but it can control the virus so that a person can live a longer, healthier life and reduce the risk of transmitting HIV to others around him. ART involves taking a combination of HIV medicines (called an HIV regimen) every day, exactly as prescribed by the doctor. These HIV medicines prevent HIV Virus from multiplying (making copies of itself in the body), which reduces the amount of HIV in the body. Having less HIV in the body gives the immune system a chance to recover and fight off infections and cancers. Even though there is still some HIV in the body, the immune system is strong enough to fight off infections and cancers. By reducing the amount of HIV in the body, HIV medicines also reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to others. ART is recommended for all people with HIV, regardless of how long they’ve had the virus or how healthy they are. If left untreated, HIV will attack the immune system and eventually progress to AIDS.
With the exception of yellow fever vaccine neither vaccines nor experimental vaccines are readily available. Prophylactic (preventive) ribavirin may be effective for some bunyavirus and arenavirus infections (again, available only as IND).
VHF isolation guidelines dictate that all VHF patients (with the exception of dengue patients) should be cared for using strict contact precautions, including hand hygiene, double gloves, gowns, shoe and leg coverings, and faceshield or goggles. Lassa, CCHF, Ebola, and Marburg viruses may be particularly prone to nosocomial (hospital-based) spread. Airborne precautions should be utilized including, at a minimum, a fit-tested, HEPA filter-equipped respirator (such as an N-95 mask), a battery-powered, air-purifying respirator, or a positive pressure supplied air respirator to be worn by personnel coming within 1,8 meter (six feet) of a VHF patient. Multiple patients should be cohorted (sequestered) to a separate building or a ward with an isolated air-handling system. Environmental decontamination is typically accomplished with hypochlorite (e.g. bleach) or phenolic disinfectants.
Development of new therapies has been hindered by the lack of appropriate animal model systems for some important viruses and also because of the difficulty in conducting human clinical trials for diseases that are rare. Nonetheless, numerous innovative approaches to antiviral therapy are available including candidate thiazolide and purazinecarboxamide derivatives with potential broad-spectrum antiviral efficacy. New herpes virus drugs include viral helicase-primase and terminase inhibitors. A promising new area of research involves therapies based on enhanced understanding of host antiviral immune responses.
No specific treatment is currently approved. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advises people to be careful of advertisements making unverified or fraudulent claims of benefits supposedly gained from various anti-Ebola products.
Immunosuppressive therapy has been effective in halting the disease for laboratory animals.
There is no cure or vaccine for HFRS. Treatment involves supportive therapy including renal dialysis. Treatment with ribavirin in China and Korea, administered within 7 days of onset of fever, resulted in a reduced mortality as well as shortened course of illness.
Treatment is mostly supportive. Ribavirin is effective "in vitro" and has been used by mouth during outbreaks, but there is no trial evidence to support its use.
The United States armed forces maintain special stocks of ribavirin to protect personnel deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq from CCHF.
Ataxia usually goes away without any treatment. In cases where an underlying cause is identified, your doctor will treat the underlying cause. In extremely rare cases, you may have continuing and disabling symptoms. Treatment includes corticosteroids, Intravenous immunoglobulin, or plasma exchange therapy. Drug treatment to improve muscle coordination has a low success rate. However, the following drugs may be prescribed: clonazepam, amantadine, gabapentin, or buspirone. Occupational or physical therapy may also alleviate lack of coordination. Changes to diet and nutritional supplements may also help. Treatment will depend on the cause. If the acute cerebellar ataxia is due to bleeding, surgery may be needed. For a stroke, medication to thin the blood can be given. Infections may need to be treated with antibiotics. Steroids may be needed for swelling (inflammation) of the cerebellum (such as from multiple sclerosis). Cerebellar ataxia caused by a recent viral infection may not need treatment.
The treatment of mumps is supportive. Symptoms may be relieved by the application of intermittent ice or heat to the affected neck/testicular area and by acetaminophen for pain relief. Warm saltwater gargles, soft foods, and extra fluids may also help relieve symptoms. Acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) is not used to treat children due to the risk of Reye's syndrome.
There is no effective post-exposure recommendation to prevent secondary transmission, nor is the post-exposure use of vaccine or immunoglobulin effective.
Mumps is considered most contagious in the five days after the onset of symptoms, and isolation is recommended during this period. In someone who has been admitted to the hospital, standard and droplet precautions are needed. People who work in healthcare cannot work for five days.
There are currently no Food and Drug Administration-approved vaccines for the prevention of MVD. Many candidate vaccines have been developed and tested in various animal models. Of those, the most promising ones are DNA vaccines or based on Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus replicons, vesicular stomatitis Indiana virus (VSIV) or filovirus-like particles (VLPs) as all of these candidates could protect nonhuman primates from marburgvirus-induced disease. DNA vaccines have entered clinical trials. Marburgviruses are highly infectious, but not very contagious. Importantly, and contrary to popular belief, marburgviruses do not get transmitted by aerosol during natural MVD outbreaks. Due to the absence of an approved vaccine, prevention of MVD therefore relies predominantly on behavior modification, proper personal protective equipment, and sterilization/disinfection.
Researchers from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and Liberian research partners are doing a 5 year follow-up study of 1500 Ebola survivors in Liberia. Survivors will be evaluated every 6 months; as of October 2017 two follow-ups have been performed. Researchers will track relapses and viral persistence, characterize sequelae in various bodily systems, and do clinical studies on pharmacologic interventions and vaccines.
NINDS, located in Bethesda, Maryland, partnered with Liberia to form the research group PREVAIL III (Partnership for Research on Ebola Vaccines in Liberia III) in 2014. In 2016 they wrote:
"Moving forward, there is an urgent need to evaluate and address Liberia's capacity to appropriately benefit from the upsurge in research opportunities during the post-EVD period. Funding should be dedicated to developing a critical mass of skilled researchers who can lead clinical research programmes that are locally relevant, ethical, and methodologically sound."
Treatment (which is based on supportive care) is as follows:
Pyrimethamine-based maintenance therapy is often used to treat Toxoplasmic Encephalitis (TE), which is caused by Toxoplasma gondii and can be life-threatening for people with weak immune systems. The use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), in conjunction with the established pyrimethamine-based maintenance therapy, decreases the chance of relapse in patients with HIV and TE from approximately 18% to 11%. This is a significant difference as relapse may impact the severity and prognosis of disease and result in an increase in healthcare expenditure.
There is currently no specific therapy. Intravenous fluids and treatment of the hepatic encephalopathy may help. Increasing dietary levels of branched chain amino acids and feeding low protein diets can help signs of hepatic encephalopathy, which is often accomplished by feeding small amounts of grain and/or beet pulp, and removing high-protein feedstuffs such as alfalfa hay. Grazing on non-legume grass may be acceptable if it is late summer or fall, although the horse should only be permitted to eat in the evening so as to avoid photosensitization. Due to the risk of gastric impaction, stomach size should be monitored.
Sedation is minimized and used only to control behavior that could lead to injury of the animal and to allow therapeutic procedures, and should preferably involve a sedative other than a benzodiazepine. Stressing the animal should be avoided if at all possible. Plasma transfusions may be needed if spontaneous bleeding occurs, to replace clotting factors. Antibiotics are sometimes prescribed to prevent bacterial translocation from the intestines. Antioxidants such as vitamin E, B-complex vitamins, and acetylcysteine may be given. High blood ammonia is often treated with oral neomycin, often in conjunction with lactulose, metronidazole and probiotics, to decrease production and absorption of ammonia from the gastrointestinal tract.
Often no treatment is required. However, as porcine cytomegalovirus is a herpes virus it remains latent and sheds at times of stress. Therefore husbandry measures to minimise stress levels should be in place.
In unvaccinated humans, rabies is almost always fatal after neurological symptoms have developed.
Vaccination after exposure, PEP, is highly successful in preventing the disease if administered promptly, in general within 6 days of infection. Begun with little or no delay, PEP is 100% effective against rabies. In the case of significant delay in administering PEP, the treatment still has a chance of success.
Five of the first 43 patients (12%) treated with the Milwaukee protocol survived, and those receiving treatment survived longer than those not receiving the treatment.
In cases of viral pneumonia where influenza A or B are thought to be causative agents, patients who are seen within 48 hours of symptom onset may benefit from treatment with oseltamivir or zanamivir. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has no direct acting treatments, but ribavirin in indicated for severe cases. Herpes simplex virus and varicella-zoster virus infections are usually treated with aciclovir, whilst ganciclovir is used to treat cytomegalovirus. There is no known efficacious treatment for pneumonia caused by SARS coronavirus, MERS coronavirus, adenovirus, hantavirus, or parainfluenza. Care is largely supportive.
About 15–20% of hospitalized Lassa fever patients will die from the illness. The overall mortality rate is estimated to be 1%, but during epidemics, mortality can climb as high as 50%. The mortality rate is greater than 80% when it occurs in pregnant women during their third trimester; fetal death also occurs in nearly all those cases. Abortion decreases the risk of death to the mother. Some survivors experience lasting effects of the disease, and can include partial or complete deafness.
Because of treatment with ribavirin, fatality rates are continuing to decline.