Italy records almost 70 HUS cases in twelve months

In Italy, almost 70 cases of a serious condition resulting from an E. coli infection have been reported in the past year.

Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is a serious complication associated with E. coli infections that causes kidney failure.

Italian data shows that 68 cases of HUS were registered between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024.

The Italian registry for hemolytic uremic syndrome is managed by the Italian Society of Pediatric Nephrology and the National Institute of Health (ISS).

Patients came from 18 regions, two cases lived abroad, while in six sick people symptoms started after returning from a trip abroad.

All but one of the 68 cases were under the age of 15. The other sick person belonged to the age group of 15 to 24 years. The most cases were recorded in Puglia (with nine), as well as in Campania and Veneto, with seven each.

E. coli O26 dominates
The median age of patients at the time of clinical disease onset, for cases detected between July 2023 and June 2024, was 3 years.

In the first half of 2024, the number of HUS cases reported to the Italian HUS registry was lower than expected. The decline was particularly noticeable in February and March, when only one case was reported. However, in July and August 2023, recorded cases were higher than in previous years.

Information about the serogroup could be obtained from 53 STEC-positive patients. Of these, cases with infection associated with the so-called top-5 STEC serogroups O26, O157, O111, O145 and O103 constituted the majority, amounting to 49 HUS cases. In one case there was evidence of multiple infection with STEC O26 and O103.

In the past 12 months, E. coli O26 represented 27 of the identified STEC serogroups. This appears to be in accordance with the European epidemiological situation in which STEC O26 dominates among HUS cases associated with STEC infection. E. coli O157 ranked second, followed by E. coli O145.

Between July 2022 and June 2023, 73 cases of HUS were registered from 16 regions in Italy, including 70 in people under 15 years old.

The latest figures from France show 253 HUS cases in 2022. This was the highest number since surveillance began in 1996. In 2021, 128 cases were reported by Santé publique France.

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