Why is everyone terrified of Hantavirus? A nurse from Denver explains

There’s been widespread panic online after a luxury cruise was hit with the Hantavirus. People are likening the situation to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which happened five years ago. But should there be panic? Brooke (@brookesand), a nurse from Denver, explained why people are spooked by a potential outbreak.

“My therapist just told me this, and I’m going to tell it to you,” she said. For those who are experiencing anxiety or PTSD-like reactions to the hantavirus, Brooke said that this is normal.

How badly are people reacting to the news? Some on TikTok are crashing out and anxious about re-learning the dalgona coffee recipe. There are those who think that it’s their second chance at being TikTok famous and are starting to dance in front of their phones. Others were not calm about the cruise ship, suggesting that it should be burnt in the middle of the ocean.

Unprocessed trauma from the last pandemic

“We all experienced a collective trauma with the COVID pandemic. We all had different experiences, but it was a horrible time for all of us,” she said. The pandemic forced people into isolation so that its spread would be mitigated. What was supposed to be a two-week quarantine lasted for more than a year. Businesses were disrupted, and plans were altered permanently.

Although vaccines came in time to help combat the virus, people lost their loved ones, and quarantine restrictions forbade them from visiting hospitals.

Students lost years of social interaction and school events. Young workers missed internship and professional opportunities because of the pandemic. But life moved forward, and people gradually transitioned to the new normal. So, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for people to react dreadfully and defensively upon hearing the news of a deadly virus infecting a cruise ship. It hasn’t even been a decade since the last one—there’s a sense of injustice in that.

Keep calm, wash hands, and have fun

“We didn’t know the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus when it appeared. It doesn’t matter… We can’t help that our brain is reacting to a trigger that’s reminding us of something that was really scary and just absolutely devastating for so many people,” Brooke said of COVID-19. The hantavirus isn’t new—the Andes strain, which some passengers from the Hondius cruise acquired, was discovered in 1995. Moreover, the strain has high lethality, yet low infectivity.

People are still reeling from the trauma of the last pandemic even as life goes on. But these two situations are different, and experts suggest that the hantavirus will not be a widespread outbreak. While there is no cure or working vaccine yet, the cases are also extremely isolated.

Normally, only those in South America would be subject to the virus. But even so, passengers of the Hondius are being monitored by the World Health Organization and recommended active follow-ups.

Brooke believes that this new incident provides space for people to recognize their triggers and work towards taking care of themselves. “Here’s your reminder for today. Take things slow if you can. Take care of yourself, maybe go for a short walk, listen to your favorite music or your podcast, or read your book—or whatever it is to take care of yourself, because we aren’t going to let this stuff happen to us again.”

(featured images: Anna Shvets, brookesand, The Pineapple Experience)

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