Headlines - Surveillance of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) in France

Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) is a severe clinical form of infection caused by Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC). STEC infections typically cause watery diarrhea and hemorrhagic colitis. In 5 to 8% of cases, this clinical picture worsens with the sudden onset of hemolytic anemia and/or thrombocytopenia, leading to acute kidney injury. HUS is thus the leading cause of acute kidney injury in children under 3 years of age.In France, testing for STEC infections in stool samples is not routinely performed in medical laboratories. A surveillance system for HUS in children under 15 years of age¹ was established in 1996 by the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance (InVS) in collaboration with the French Society of Pediatric Nephrology. It relies on a permanent network of 31 volunteer pediatric and pediatric nephrology departments in hospitals located throughout mainland France. Approximately 100 cases of HUS are reported by this network each year in France. Since the start of surveillance, the highest average annual incidence has been observed in the Franche-Comté region (1.7 per 100,000 inhabitants) and the Brittany region (1.4). A summer surge in the number of cases has been common since 1996, with 43% of cases occurring between July and September.