the essential
A forty-year-old died after being slow to show a foot injury linked to a rat bite. Emergency hospitalized, he did not survive after being affected by the infectious disease leptospirosis.
A man died of “rat disease” in Soissons (Aisne). A 40-year-old man was bitten on the foot by kicking a rat and reportedly took too long to show his injury to a doctor. The first doctor to examine him had sent him urgently to the hospital for in-depth treatment but the patient died at the Amiens University Hospital where he had been transferred. This death, confirmed by the ARS, identified as linked to leptospirosis.
What is leptospirosis?
Leptospiroses are infectious diseases, of varying severity, caused by bacteria of the Leptospira genus. These bacteria thrive in warm, humid environments. Contamination can occur through simple contact or through the bite of an infected animal. The Ministry of Health also notes that “in most cases, transmission is indirect during freshwater swimming, fishing, or boating activities.”
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“It’s dirty and the rats are proliferating!”… the inhabitants of a town in Decazeville exasperated by the rubbish
Leptospires are found in water “following contaminated animal droppings, entering the body through wounds, skin or mucous erosions”.
Fatal in 5 to 20% of cases
Leptospirosis is fatal in 5 to 20% of cases, according to the Pasteur Institute. This mortality can be favored by the difficulty in establishing the diagnosis, leptospirosis presenting “many clinical forms, ranging from influenza syndrome to multiorgan damage with hemorrhagic syndrome”. Among the very diverse symptoms: fever, tachycardia, chills, muscle or joint pain, headaches or even rash. The Pasteur Institute specifies that 600 to 700 people are infected in France each year.
