Dogs can cause sepsis in humans just by licking them, doctors have warned after an elderly British woman became critically ill.
The 70-year-old ended up in intensive care with multiple organ failure after contracting a rare infection from her Italian greyhound.
It is thought bacteria which can live in cavities in dogs’ mouths was passed on to the woman from her pet because she often petted it closely and let it lick her.
British doctors detailed in the online journal BMJ Case Reports how the woman, who was a non-smoker and rarely drank, nearly died after the infection caused her to develop sepsis.
The condition occurs when the body’s immune system goes into overdrive as it tries to fight an infection.
Known as the ‘silent killer’, sepsis can lead to organ failure and death without rapid treatment.
A relative of the woman, who lived alone, had raised the alarm after she started slurring on the phone and then was unresponsive.
Paramedics found her slumped semi-conscious in a chair and she was taken to hospital.
At first her symptoms improved, but after four days she developed acute kidney failure and was admitted to intensive care.