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Haemorrhagic fever

a syndrome that occurs in perhaps 20-40% of infections by a number of different viruses of the families arenaviridae (lassa fever, Bolivian haemorrhagic fever, Argentinean haemorrhagic fever), bunyaviridae (crimean-congo haemorrhagic fever), flaviviridae (dengue haemorrhagic fever, Omsk haemorrhagic fever), filoviridae (Ebola fever, marburg virus disease), etc. Some types of haemorrhagic fever are tick-borne, others mosquito-borne, and some seem to be zoonoses; clinical manifestations are high fever, scattered petechiae, gastrointestinal tract and other organ bleeding, hypotension, and shock; kidney damage may be severe, especially in Korean haemorrhagic fever and neurologic signs may appear, especially in the Argentinean-Bolivian types. Five types of haemorrhagic fever are transmissible person-to-person: Bolivian haemorrhagic fever, lassa fever, Ebola fever, marburg virus disease, and crimean-congo haemorrhagic fever.

See: epidemic haemorrhagic fever.

Synonym: Ebola haemorrhagic fever.