Public Health France bulletins are definitely making noise this week. A new report came out this Thursday afternoon about leptospirosis. Taking advantage of the start of the rainy season, Public Health France is warning the Mahorais about the dangers of this disease, particularly at the end of the rainy season.
More than 12 cases per month
Since the start of 2024, Public Health France Mayotte has recorded 28 cases of leptospirosis from January 1 to March 5, 2024, or half of all cases recorded in 2023, where 57 confirmed cases of leptospirosis had been declared. Currently, reported cases of leptospirosis are essentially occasional, thus confirming the end of the seasonal leptospirosis epidemic.
Be vigilant especially at the end of the rainy season
However, in Mayotte, cases of leptospirosis can be reported all year round. Epidemiologists often fear a resurgence of the disease observed at the end of the rainy season, between the months of February and May, where temperature and rainfall conditions are very favorable to the survival in the environment of leptospires, the bacteria responsible for the disease, the main reservoir of which is the rat. Individuals, particularly children, who often play outside in puddles and sometimes without shoes, can be contaminated by direct contact with the urine of the infected animal or by contact with an environment contaminated by urine, such as surface water or soil (puddles, streams, etc.).
Very high under-reporting of the disease
Proof of the importance and risks of leptospirosis on the national territory, leptospirosis is one of the notifiable diseases governed by article L3113-1 of the public health code. Therefore, any diagnosis or biological detection of the disease must be transmitted to the competent authorities. Concretely, doctors and biologists (liberal and hospital) have the obligation to transmit this data to the competent personnel of the Regional Health Agencies (ARS) and/or to the epidemiologists of Public Health France.
Only 14% of detections were declared
In 2024, health authorities declare that “a very large majority of cases have not been subject to mandatory reporting. » Over the entire year, only 14% of detections resulted in information being reported to the ARS via the dedicated Cerfa file. In March 2024, while the territory was facing an epidemic of leptospirosis cases, no records had been provided. To add to the toll, in the files provided, the data transmitted is often incomplete, preventing epidemiologists from being able to properly “characterize the cases and risk factors”.
Mathilde Hangard
