Hantavirus in Dentistry: Occupational Exposure Considerations and a Proposed Tiered Infection Prevention and Control Framework-A Narrative Review.

Authors

Parsa Vafaei, Morteza Banakar, Mostafa Alam, Mohammad Javad Askari, Mohsen Golkar

Published in

Clinical and experimental dental research. Volume 12. Issue 5. Pages e70481.

Abstract

The aim of this study is to synthesize evidence on hantavirus transmission and occupational exposure pathways relevant to dentistry, and to propose an evidence-informed tiered infection prevention and control (IPC) framework that distinguishes established from theoretical risk.
The initial narrative search covered database inception through May 15, 2026 in MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, and WHO/CDC/ECDC/OSHA sources, followed by a targeted PubMed/MEDLINE and public-health guidance update through August 18, 2026. Approximately 1450 records were identified. After duplicate removal, 1070 records were subjected to title/abstract screening, 215 full-text records were assessed for eligibility, and 45 sources were included in the final synthesis, comprising 34 peer-reviewed publications and 11 gray-literature or public-health guidance sources.
Environmental exposure to infected-rodent contamination is the established occupational pathway. Limited person-to-person transmission is documented for the Andes virus (ANDV), but no dental transmission has been reported. ANDV RNA and culture-based infectivity have been demonstrated in some oral/respiratory fluids; however, dental-aerosol transmission has not been shown. Dental-specific occupational risk therefore remains unquantified.
No dental transmission has been documented, and patient-related risk remains uncertain. Standard precautions and rodent control are foundational; suspected or confirmed ANDV warrants transmission-based precautions and airborne precautions for aerosol-generating procedures according to current guidance. The proposed dental tiers are evidence-informed, author-derived, and unvalidated.

PMID:
42836678
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 06 Oct 2026.

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