2023-08-29 13:26:00
Mainly known for being transmitted by rats, leptospirosis is a worldwide zoonosis. That means she’s spread from animals to humans. “Its main reservoirs are rodents, especially rats, which excrete the bacteria in the urineand thus defile their environment and occasionally dogs, farm animals (pigs)”, explains the Ministry of Health.
According to estimates, there are one million cases of leptospirosis per yearprovoking regarding 6% death. If this may seem little compared to certain pathologies, leptospirosis remains a source of concern. Thus, in a press release published on August 28, Public Health France announced that the infectious disease joined the list of notifiable diseases (MDO).
Notifiable disease (MDO): what is it?
To understand why leptospirosis was placed in notifiable diseases, we must already know what that means. These are diseases that must absolutely be declared by doctors and laboratories because they contain risks of becoming epidemic.
“In order to act and prevent the risk of epidemics, but also to analyze the evolution over time of these diseasesimprove knowledge and adapt public health policies to the needs of the population, certain diseases must be declared by health professionals, these are notifiable diseases (MDO)”, explains Public Health France. They are separated into two categories:
- Those that require both local, national or international emergency response and monitoring for conduct and the evaluation of public policies.
- Those requiring special monitoring only for the protection of public health.
The inclusion or removal of a disease from this list is made on the advice of the High Public Health Council (HCSP), then validated by the Minister of Health. “This device now has 38 DO diseaseswith the addition of leptospirosis since August 24, 2023“, details Public Health France. In this list, we find in particular dengue fever, Covid-19, listeriosiszika or the plague.
Leptospirosis: why does it join the MDO list?
In metropolitan France, the annual incidence of leptospirosis is estimated at approximately one case per 100,000 populationsince 2014. This corresponds to ” approximately 600 to 700 cases listed annually by the National Reference Center and its partner laboratories throughout the territory”, specifies Public Health France. According to the health organization, the cases are probably understated.
In addition, in overseas regions the disease is endemic and the incidence is 10 to 70 times higher than in France. Contamination peaks can also appear in these regions during the rainy season. In addition, health authorities lack information regarding this disease. So, Integrating the disease into BMDs would allow:
- having a better understanding of the disease and better monitoring of morbidity as well as mortality;
- of better characterize at-risk populations and therefore target public health interventions;
- and of put in place appropriate measures (traveller alerts, control of animal populations, deratting).
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