Viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) are a group of viral infections that result in presentations ranging from a flu-like illness to multisystem failure.

Examples of viral haemorrhagic fever (VHF) include:

• Flaviviridae: dengue, yellow fever
• Arenaviridae: Lassa fever
• Filoviridae: Ebola virus, Marburg virus
• Bunyaviridae: Hantaviruses, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, Rift Valley fever

Features

• flu-like symptoms
• abdominal pain
• haemorrhage
  • petechiae, bruising
  • bloody diarrhoea, haematemesis, haemoptysis
  • disseminated intravascular coagulation
• multiorgan failure

Prevention

• a yellow fever vaccine is available
• a dengue and Ebola vaccine have been developed but are now widely used at the current time
• no vaccines are available for the other VHFs

Management

• treatment is generally supportive
• ribavirin is used to treat Lassa fever

The more common VHFs such as dengue, Ebola and yellow fever are covered in more detail elsewhere in the notes.

Lassa fever