Andes virus-associated hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome and repurposing lipid medications to calm down the cytokine storm

We read with interest the article by Velavan and Schmidt-Chanasit [1] reminding us that Andes virus-associated hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) is fatal in nearly 4 in 10 patients, and that, currently, there is no approved specific antiviral treatment effective for the syndrome. Previous prospective, placebo-controlled studies have suggested that ribavirin therapy might decrease the mortality, but later studies have failed to show such benefit [2,3]. In addition, high-dose intravenous methylprednisolone failed to improve the prognosis of the HCPS [4].