[Leptospirosis in children: a not infrequent disease (author's transl)].

A total of 14 cases of leptospirosis in children aged from 5 to 15 years, hospitalized in the Paris region, are reported. The polymorphe character of the disease is pointed out. The necessity for respecting a rigorous chronological order when requesting complementary examinations, which could confirm the diagnosis, is stressed. Domestic animals, team-mates, and while swimming at week-ends or during holidays, are potential sources or means of infection in the young. This justifies searching for leptospirosis in cases of unexplained fever, a pseudo-influenza syndrome, a meningitis which is mainly of the lymphocytic type, or more rarely, in cases of jaundice. Leptospirosis should be a disease well-known by the pediatrician.