A French woman who tests positive for hantavirus after being evacuated from the cruise ship at the centre of an outbreak is now in a critical condition, according to Spain’s health minister. The minister says the passenger developed flu-like symptoms while on board the MV Hondius and reported them to medical staff, but doctors initially told her the symptoms were likely due to anxiety. She later underwent testing that confirmed hantavirus. The health minister adds that her symptoms had appeared to be improving at one point, and she did not have a fever. The World Health Organization later describes her condition as “very critical.”
Multiple outlets report that the woman is being treated in a hospital in Paris. The accounts focus on the discrepancy between the initial onboard medical assessment and the later confirmed hantavirus diagnosis and subsequent deterioration to a critical state. The reports do not detail the specific clinical course beyond the initial dismissal of symptoms as anxiety, the later positive test, and the later status described by Spanish officials and the WHO.
