[Nephropathy due to Puumala hantavirus]

Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is due to an infection by the virus of the Hantavirus genus. Rodent hosts of Hantavirus are present in restricted areas in France; consequently, there are ecological niches and microepidemics of human Hantavirus infections. A HFRS case was diagnosed in the Paris region. The 11-year-old child had an acute debut fever-persistent despite antipyretic medication-asthenia, headache, abdominal pain, myalgia, thrombocytopenia, as well as renal failure with proteinuria. The diagnosis was made with a relevant clinical history and the specific serology of Puumala hantavirus. Therefore, a kidney biopsy was not necessary. What was interesting was the diagnostic approach because of the difference between the place and time of contamination and where the child became ill and developed the symptoms. The child was infected by Puumala hantavirus in Les Ardennes, a high-risk area, but became ill in the Paris region, an area with no prevalence. We review Hantavirus infections in France and its differential diagnosis.