A hantavirus survivor shared how it made her vomit so much that she developed a phobia of it.
Shaina Montiel, 38, caught hantavirus – now widely known due to its recent outbreak on a cruise – and is sharing the symptoms she suffered.
At the time, the condition was extremely rare, and it took several doctors to diagnose Shaina after she began vomiting and ‘hemorrhaging rectally’ aged five.
Shaina, from a suburb of Los Angeles, in California, US, was eventually diagnosed with the hemorrhagic strain of the virus, different from the Andes strain found aboard the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius.
Then in kindergarten, Shaina spent over a week in hospital being tested for meningitis and leukaemia before getting her diagnosis.
She said it caused her so much pain that she couldn’t even be touched without flinching – and she was monitored for two years after she recovered because of how rare and unknown the condition then was.
As more people become aware of the condition, Shaina shared her experiences – having gone over three decades without ever knowing of another case.
Shaina, a special education teacher, said: “I have a lot of memories from that time, because it was so traumatic – I’ve never forgotten it.
“I remember I had flu-like symptoms and had antibiotics, then one day I began hemorrhaging rectally – I couldn’t control it.
“It hit me really hard – no illness since has caused that severe vomiting.
“When I was diagnosed, the doctors asked my mom’s permission to document everything in my case because it was so uncommon.
“Seeing someone who survived it on TV this week was the first time I’d seen another survivor.
“Growing up, there was no information out there about it. Now there is, it’s like a little part of me is being shared with the world.”
Shaina fell ill in 1993 from a mystery illness, which first presented as the flu.
She was prescribed antibiotics but returned to the doctor’s the next day when she became weak, although she was reassured it was only the flu.
But over the following days, she began hemorrhaging blood and faeces uncontrollably from her bum.
Shaina said: “The hospital didn’t know what it was, and apparently they tested me for meningitis and leukaemia.
“But there was a doctor there who said he’d just come from a seminar about hantavirus.
“I was sent to a children’s hospital where my diagnosis was confirmed.
“I had a blood rash underneath my skin too, my mum said you couldn’t touch a hair on my head because my skin was so sensitive.”
Shaina was severely unwell and in pain for around a fortnight in total, she said.
While nobody could know for sure where her illness had been picked up, it was suspected to be from animal faeces when playing in her rural back garden.
After recovering from the illness, Shaina was put on two years of monitoring.
She said: “My mom used to have to check after every time I used the restroom, for blood in my stool.
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“They told her it could affect my kidneys or my vision long term.
“I had no long term effects but I did develop health anxiety through childhood and into adulthood, feeling like I would die from something rare.
“And I developed a fear of vomiting.
“Growing up, I read a lot of books about infectious diseases because I wanted to know more about what I had.”
So after the disease that caused her so much medical trauma as a child came to light recently, Shaina said she wanted to speak out.
She said: “The scariest part is, I didn’t know there was a human-to-human strain.
“I was always told mine was spread by rodents.
“They say it’s hard to get, and low risk, but it felt like a bit of a concern to me.
“It’s super weird now, everyone else getting to know about something I went through.
“It was scary and a horrible experience that I don’t want anyone else to go through.
“Knowing there are people who are suffering with it and who might catch it, it’s chilling.
“Those poor families that are now dealing with it, oh my gosh. I just hope they recover, like I did.”
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