A hundred serious cases in ten years: sepsis of animal origin remains rare, but can be fatal in fragile patients. A French study draws up the profile of these infections.
Our favorite companies, cats and dogs are not always safe for our health. French researchers have published in the journal Critical Care A study evaluating the risks and developments of sepsis caused by infection by pets. “”The serious cases of infection concern very few people, and you must already have health problems serious enough to need hospitalization“, Even wishes to recall Juliette Quintin, doctor of resuscitation at the Nantes University Hospital, and author of this study. “”For most people, if you get scratchy or bite, a small local infection can be declared, without much dangerShe continues.
However, for very vulnerable people (immunocompromised, older or suffering from chronic diseases), there may be a risk of sepsis. And not need aggressive contact with a dog or a cat to develop one: a simple bite, a light scratch or even licking on a wound may be enough to trigger a generalized infection. And this, because of the bacteria naturally present in the saliva “or the clutches of the animal, if it licks their legs“Indicates the doctor.
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SEPSIS is a generalized inflammatory reaction of the body in the face of an infection, which can lead to a failure of several organs, see death, especially in vulnerable people (immunocompromised, older or suffering from chronic diseases). This medical condition is therefore serious, and deserves hospitalization. There are four main bacteria in pets, which cause most cases of sepsis, but the type of bacteria does not seem to significantly influence seriousness or mortality. Doctors noted that Pasteurella was mainly linked to cat bites, touching older and fragile patients, while Capnocytophaga was rather associated with dogs, “already well known data“, Underlines the doctor.
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«The objective of this study was to analyze the cases of patients admitted to resuscitation due to infections transmitted by these animals, because very few studies exist on this subject», Justifies Juliette Quintin. Led in 46 resuscitation services in France, from 2009 to 2019, it has “174 adults with sepsis linked to a bite or scratch.The doctors started by following the patients within 24 hours of admission, in particular to determine which bacteria caused the sepsis, as well as what type of animal had injured the patient. Then, during the stay in resuscitation, they noted the complications as well as the treatments pray by the patients.
The team’s observations are as follows: the median age of patients was 64 years old, or “relatively old patients», Illustrates Juliette Quintin. Half of the patients had to receive vasopressants (to maintain blood pressure) and 19 % dialysis. The amputation rate of this cohort was 3.6 %, much higher than that observed in cases of sepsis of other bacteria (less than 1 %), showing the particular severity of these zoonoses. “”When there is a serious infection, specifies Juliette Quintin, There may be endless necrosis, which leads to amputations».
A sometimes fatal infection
In the end, 24 % of patients died, “This is not a huge percentage, when compared to the number of deaths in resuscitation caused by infections, in general. We receive in resuscitation many more patients with respiratory infection, caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae For example“, Ways to clarify Juliette Quintin.
The study points to three major risk factors: an advanced age, smoking and chronic liver diseases, “sometimes linked to alcohol consumption“Warns the doctor. It is therefore not a threat of public health, because “Over ten years, only a hundred patients have been affected, making it a rare situation“, Ways to reassure Juliette Quintin. On the other hand, neither the type of bacteria in question, nor the initial antibiotic treatment, nor even the mode of transmission (bite or licking) seem to weigh as much in the prognosis as the general state of health of the patient. Results reminiscent that, if these infections remain rare, caution is in order for the most fragile people, even in front of our most familiar companions.
