The life-threatening bacterial infection, which is usually spread through rat urine, sickened a record number of people in New York City last year and is expected to hit another record high this year, according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Reported.
The infection is leptospirosis, which can cause a variety of symptoms including nonspecific symptoms such as fever, headache, chills, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and cough. However, if left untreated, it can become severe and cause kidney failure, liver damage, jaundice, hemorrhage, hemorrhage (conjunctival hyperemia), difficulty breathing, and in some cases, death.
The causative bacteria are spirochete bacteria Leptospira-When infected, rats excrete bacteria in their urine. Bacteria jump into people through open wounds and direct contact with mucous membranes.
New York City has been in a (mostly losing) war with the rat population for years, and last year’s rat population was As much as 3 million. Mayor Eric Adams has made combating the rat population a major initiative, and just last week the city council proposed an updated strategy to control the furry brown rodent colony. contraception In the form of salty pellets.
Still, leptospirosis wasn’t the biggest concern from rodent pranks until recently. Between 2001 and 2020, the city recorded an average of only three cases of leptospirosis per year, some of which were travel-related. But that all changed during the pandemic, when the rat population appeared to skyrocket. From 2021 to 2022, the average number of shootings reached 15. In 2023, 24 cases of infection occurred, the highest number of cases ever recorded in a single year. As of April 10th, six incidents have occurred so far.
The number of cases so far this year is alarming considering: Leptospira As the New York City Department of Health says, germs are “fragile.” The freezing temperatures of winter and the dry heat of summer quickly kill them. The main time they breed is in warm, moist environments. Last year, the months with the highest number of infections were June and October. The Ministry of Health said climate change, which is causing excessive rain and unseasonably high temperatures, may be contributing to the rise in cases.
in Health advisories issued last weekThe city’s health department advised clinicians to be wary of cases that are treated with common oral antibiotics for mild cases and intravenous antibiotics for severe cases. Symptoms usually develop 5 to 14 days after exposure, but may appear 2 to 30 days later.
Of the 98 locally transmitted cases the city recorded between 2001 and 2023, nearly all (94%) were male, with a median age of 50 years and a range of 20 to 80 years. The Bronx had the most cases (37), followed by Manhattan (28), Brooklyn (19), Queens (10) and Staten Island (4). Cases were presented to clinicians with acute renal and liver failure and, in some cases, severe respiratory disease. Six people have died out of 98 cases.
These cases are usually associated with living or working environments where rat urine, contaminated soil or water, or items such as garbage bags and garbage cans are frequently contaminated with rat urine. The health department said human-to-human transmission is rare.
New York isn’t the only city plagued by leptospirosis cases. Last year, Dutch doctors reported the case of an 18-year-old with jaundice and bloody eyes who developed leptospirosis after falling into a canal that was likely contaminated with rodent urine.
