Man, 76, bitten by toilet rat hospitalized with organ failure due to bacterial infection

This real-life mutant sewer rat turned out to be far less friendly than the cartoon version known to lurk through the Big Apple sewers with his four turtle sons.

A toilet-dwelling rodent sent a Canadian man into organ failure and sepsis after sinking its teeth into his hand.

The 76-year-old man was trying to fish the rat out of his toilet when the furry critter bit two of his fingers.

He went to the emergency room and received basic wound care and a tetanus booster and was sent home.

But 18 days later, the septuagenarian was back in the ER. He was suffering from a myriad of symptoms including fever, headaches and abdominal pain that had been ongoing for three days, according to a report published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

His heart rate was high, his blood pressure low and his kidneys were damaged, according to medical tests. He had signs of multi-organ dysfunction and sepsis and was admitted to the intensive care unit.

While his bite wound had mostly healed, doctors suspected it could have something to do with his deteriorating condition.

They ran blood and urine tests and found the man had leptospirosis, a bacterial infection that is often transmitted to humans by animals like rats and can be fatal in rare, severe cases.

The bacteria is found in the urine of animals and doctors believe that the rat may have had a mouthful of the contaminated urine when he bit the Canadian’s fingers, thus breaking the skin for the bacteria wound to enter his body, according to the report.

More than one million cases of leptospirosis are reported worldwide each year and nearly 60,000 of those cases end in death. Mortality rates from the bacterial infection have been reported to be between 5 and 15%, according to the study.

In the case of the Canadian man, he was given treatment including antibiotics and steroids, and was released from the ICU after three days.

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Allie Griffin

April 5, 2024 7:54 am