Absolutely terrified of the Hantavirus

[Tmoll]

Just a brief overview on why I’m terrified I might have gotten myself infected: two days ago, my dog found a mouse in the backyard and injured it while trying to play with it. I felt bad and I wasn’t sure if the mouse was just acting injured while my dog was still around, so I didn’t want to put it out of its misery. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I pushed it into a box with my bare finger and placed it on top of one of the shelves we have in our yard. I went inside and immediately washed my hands. I kept checking everyone now and then to see the progress and the little guy eventually died

Anyway, the mouse may have soiled himself (not sure) while my dog was attacking it and I was very close to the mouse. My fave was close to the box, while I checked for breathing and I did touch it. One of my friends mentioned that mice carry diseases and I didn’t think anything of it because hey mice tend to get in people’s houses and they are perfectly fine. The next day my anxiety started to get the best of me, so I went on google (yeah I know worst decisions to ever make!). After many a search I kept coming to the Hantavirus and how nearly half of the people who contract it die. Now I’m panicking. Some of the initial symptoms are body aches, chills, and headaches. Of course now I’m experiencing them. I’m really freaking myself out though. I read that normally symptoms don’t start till a week or two later, but what if mine are starting now? They also said deer mice carry the disease and I don’t think the mouse I helped was a deer mice, I think he was just a regular house mouse but I’m not sure. I’m really terrified, is my mind just making up these symptoms or am I in trouble. Starting to serious regret helping little Mickey....

[lofwyr]

Well, to put away your immediate fears, hantavirus does not show symptoms for weeks. As many as 4 to 5 weeks pass before symptoms show, so you can't be experiencing any of those. Where do you live? I live in the heart of hantavirus country in New Mexico, and I do not know a single person who has ever contracted the disease.

[Tmoll]

That definitely gives me some relief, I just wish I could turn the negative part of my brain off. I live in Philadelphia, PA in the city. There’s been a few cases here or there, from what I seen online but definitely not many

[epeira8]

I just developed this fear last night and it’s crippling right now. I was cleaning my cats’ litter and it’s under this old type of vent in the ceiling. I live on the second floor of a hundred year old hpuse and we definitely have mice living in the walls. Heard them all winter. They were making a mess pushing some stuff out of the small crack in the vent but I never thought anything of it.
I found wgat looked like a dropping last night. I googled JUST to see if it was mouse or chipmunk and of course I see this hantavirus and now I’m in full panic. I had stood up and gently wiped the vent edge begore duck taping it and I’m questioning if I breathed anything in. I don’t see any other droppings... can I vacuum? I know I’ve vacuumed that area before but now it’s all I’m thinking about.
I’m also now nervous of the crap basement which is not finished and my laundry machines are down there.... I’ve been here 5 years but never heard the mice so loudly before.
Been trying to read anxiety forum posts and they’ll call me for a while but then it starts right back up.
I just want to cry.

[Fishmanpa]

300,000,000+ Million in the US and around 600 cases of this a year. Do the math.

Positive thoughts

[Jeseev88]

I am also having this anxiety....long story short... 9 days ago bought a camper it is infested with mice. I had no idea about proper clean up so I went crazy cleaning vacuum sweeping no gloves or mask for three days. I even slept in there before all the mice were out! A few days later I'm achy feel icky no fever tho. And I turn to Google bad idea I know. I learn about hantavirua. I've been to ER 2 times!!! Sounding like a crazy person they just laugh at me... wont test me for it (btw I live in a small community). The drs say i have strep throat which is ridiculous I have no symptoms for that. Only one side of my throat is swollen and like i said no fever. Now I know I'm running away with my self but I CANT rationalize to myself why Its not Hantavirus! I cant sleep I'm so terrified that my lungs will fill with fluid while I'm sleeping. I have yet another dr app tmrw, hopefully they can shed some reassurance on me or if nothing else prescribe me enough klonopin to make it through the "incubation" period....

Btw yes I know its ridiculous and this is the worst my anxiety has ever kept me get!!!)

[colonelkurtz]

I had this same worry last summer. In fact, the last time I logged on to this site to post (usually just a chronic lurker) was about this exact issue. I would say this, brain amoeba, and fatal insmonia rank among my most crazy HA episodes ever (crazy as in completely irrational).



Not only is the virus very difficult to contract even if you do come in contact with infected feces, it is also extremely rare. But I see that you also vacuumed the feces (same mistake I made), but this itself isn't even deterministic. So for you to have it at least three conditions have to be met: the mice were deer mice (which tend to stay away from people), the feces has to be fresh (it can die within minutes of exposure to UV rays), AND the deer mice itself would have had to be infected (I think only a small percentage of deer mice have it depending on where you live). All of these things are extremely unlikely.



It also takes weeks to develop from what I remember.


I know that nothing we say will help in these kinds of moments, but I truly understand the fear. I was living with mice in my house for weeks before I noticed and was vacuuming up little black feces for weeks not even knowing what they were (I thought they were cockroaches! before I figured out it was mice turds).


I still have mice in my building, but luckily haven't seen any for awhile. I switched apartments in the hosue I live in to the one attached to the house so I didn't have to worry about any basement critters anymore.


I really hope you feel better soon, HA sucks so much life out of us!

[Tmoll]

Hello everyone! It’s been a couple months since I last posted on here and my Fear continues. When I first came into contact with the mouse, I counted the weeks and marked down the date I’d be in the clear (which I just realized is today, June 14th). Of course a week before the date, I come down with a mild headache and fatigue (I went to bed as soon as I got home which is rare for me). A day later I get a scratchy throat, the next day I get really mucousy and start having a cough and started to lose my voice. The cough has stuck with me till now and my voice still continues to go in and out, which has been almost a week. I wake up in the morning coughing up mucus, then get a dry cough in the eveninf. My chest burns from coughing and sometimes I feel shortness of breath. I’m starting to get really worried again. Two weeks after I was exposed to the mouse, I pushed the Hantavirus Fear out my mind and stopped worrying about it. Now I’ve reached the end of the incubation period and I’m starting to panic again. I haven’t had a fever since and I keep trying to tell myself I just got a summer cold, or the crazy Philly weather is messing with my sinuses (one day it’s 68 degrees the next it’s in the high 80s). Maybe th shortness of breath is my anxiety over all of this, but I’m definitely panicking now

[flatline]

Same here. There were four recently dead mice in the room next to where I sleep and I am melting right now. I don't think I saw any droppings (they were all babies) but I'm still on edge