Hantavirus Patient at Bandung Hospital Dies After Infection

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Ministry of Health recorded 256 hantavirus cases in Indonesia from 2024 to May 2026, with 23 cases confirmed across nine provinces. Of these, 20 patients recovered, while three died.

At Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital (RSHS) Bandung, doctors confirmed that one of three hantavirus patients under treatment had died.

Internal medicine specialist Elisabeth Hutajulu said a 49-year-old male construction worker was treated for three days before succumbing to the infection. She made the remarks during an online hantavirus awareness session on Monday, May 18, 2026.

In the six to one day before admission to RSHS Bandung, the patient experienced intermittent fever and worsening upper right abdominal pain, accompanied by jaundice affecting both skin and eyes.

“He experienced nausea and vomiting every time he ate,” Elisabeth said. Upon arrival at the hospital, the patient was found to have fever, jaundice, and respiratory distress.

On the first day of treatment, his fever and abdominal pain persisted, while breathing difficulties worsened. By the second day, his condition deteriorated further. “When we educated his family, they refused intubation, and eventually, the patient passed away,” she said.

Intubation is an emergency procedure involving the insertion of a tube to assist breathing. The patient had no known comorbidities such as diabetes or hypertension.

Initial examination in the emergency room showed he was conscious, with blood pressure of 100/60 mmHg, pulse rate of 92 beats per minute, and reduced oxygen saturation.

His blood tests showed a hemoglobin level of 12.7 g/dL on admission, but this dropped to 11 g/dL by the second and third days of treatment. His white blood cell count rose sharply from 18,440 to 28,180 per microliter, while his platelet count remained critically low at around 31,000 to 47,000 per microliter. Tests for hepatitis A, hepatitis C, and HIV were negative.

“After post-mortem examination, the patient tested positive for hantavirus and leptospirosis,” Elisabeth said.

Clinical microbiology specialist Leonardus Widyatmoko explained that hantavirus is a zoonotic disease transmitted from animals to humans, with no natural immunity in humans.

The virus is carried by rodents such as rats and mice, as well as other small mammals including shrews and bats. “Interestingly, infected animals do not show symptoms but can spread the virus throughout their lives,” he said.

He noted that hantavirus was first identified in the 1930s in Sweden as Nephropathia Epidemica, a mild form of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). During the Korean War (1951–1954), around 3,000 UN soldiers were infected with what was then known as Korean Hemorrhagic Fever. The virus was later isolated in 1976 and named Hantaan virus.

In the 1980s, outbreaks of HFRS caused by Seoul virus spread in urban Asia through house rats. In 1993, a separate outbreak in the United States among the Navajo community led to the identification of Sin Nombre virus, which causes Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), a severe and rare respiratory illness.

In 1995, the Andes virus was identified in Argentina as the only known hantavirus strain capable of human-to-human transmission. Subsequent outbreaks, including in Yosemite National Park in 2012 and Argentina between 2018 and 2019, recorded high fatality rates in confined exposure settings such as rodent-infested cabins.

More recently, an outbreak on a cruise ship traveling from Argentina to Spain resulted in three deaths among 11 confirmed cases.

In Indonesia, Leonardus said hantavirus is not a new disease. The first indications of its presence were reported in Semarang and Makassar in 1984, though the strain was not yet identified.

Serological evidence of infection was later found in 1991 among workers and residents near the port of Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara. Additional cases were identified in hospitalized patients in Semarang and Yogyakarta in 1995–1996, as well as in ports such as Tanjung Priok and Sunda Kelapa.

Between 2015 and 2018, studies found hantavirus-carrying rodents in 29 provinces, with the highest prevalence in Jakarta. In 2019, an outbreak investigation in Jeneponto, South Sulawesi, confirmed three cases of Seoul virus infection.

The Health Ministry issued national guidelines for hantavirus prevention and control in 2023. Leonardus noted that all fatal cases recorded in Indonesia so far were associated with the HFRS variant.

Read: Jakarta Monitors 3 Confirmed, 6 Suspected Hantavirus Cases

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