Retrospective diagnosis of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, 1978-1993: implications for emerging infectious diseases.

Abstract

Although hantavirus pulmonary syndrome was first recognized in 1993, the findings from this study document the earlier existence of this disease. These findings underscore the need for systematic archiving and analysis of clinical information and specimens from patients with diseases of unknown etiology to facilitate the study of new clinical entities and their associated etiologic agents.