Listeriosis (patient information)
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Listeriosis |
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Listeriosis On the Web |
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-chief: Priyamvada Singh, M.B.B.S; João André Alves Silva, M.D. [2]
Overview
Listeriosis, a serious infection usually caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, is an important public health concern in the United States. The disease primarily affects older adults, pregnant women, newborns, and adults with weakened immune systems. However, rarely, persons without these risk factors can also be affected. The risk may be reduced by following a few simple recommendations.
What are the symptoms of Listeriosis?
The symptoms vary with the infected person:
- In infants, symptoms of listeriosis may be seen in the first few days of life and may include:
- Loss of appetite
- Lethargy
- Jaundice
- Vomiting
- Respiratory distress (usually pneumonia)
- Shock
- Skin rash
- Increased pressure inside the skull (due to meningitis) possibly causing suture separation
Late-onset infection in the infant (symptoms appear age 5 days or older) and infection in children is often seen as meningitis.
- In adults, the disease may take many forms depending on what organ or organ systems are infected. It may occur as meningitis, pneumonia, septicemia, and endocarditis, or in milder forms as abscesses, skin lesion, and conjunctivitis. Symptoms, in addition to fever and muscle aches, can include headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions. A person with listeriosis usually has fever and muscle aches, often preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms. Almost everyone who is diagnosed with listeriosis has "invasive" infection, in which the bacteria spread beyond the gastrointestinal tract.
- Pregnant women: Pregnant women typically experience only a mild, flu-like illness. However, infections during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection of the newborn.
What causes Listeriosis?
You get listeriosis by eating food contaminated with Listeria. Babies can be born with listeriosis if their mothers eat contaminated food during pregnancy. However, healthy persons may consume contaminated foods without becoming ill. Persons at risk can prevent Listeria infection by avoiding certain high-risk foods and by handling food properly.
The bacterium has been found in a variety of foods, such as:
- Uncooked meats and vegetables
- Unpasteurized (raw) milk and cheeses as well as other foods made from unpasteurized milk
- Cooked or processed foods, including certain soft cheeses, processed (or ready-to-eat) meats, and smoked seafood
Listeria are killed by cooking and pasteurization. However, in some ready-to-eat meats, such as hot dogs and deli meats, contamination may occur after factory cooking but before packaging or even at the deli counter.
Also, be aware that Mexican-style cheeses (such as queso fresco) made from pasteurized milk and likely contaminated during cheese-making have caused Listeria infections.
Unlike most bacteria, Listeria can grow and multiply in some foods in the refrigerator.
Who is at highest risk?
Vegetables, meats, and other foods you eat can get infected with the bacteria if they come in contact with contaminated soil or manure. Raw milk or products made from raw milk may carry these bacteria. If you eat the contaminated products, you may get sick.
The following groups are at increased risk:[1]
- Pregnant women: About one in seven (14%) cases of Listeria infection occurs during pregnancy. The bacteria may cross the placenta and infect the developing baby. Infection during pregnancy can cause fetal loss (miscarriage or stillbirth), preterm labor, and illness or death in newborn infants.
- Pregnant women are about 10 times more likely than the general population to get Listeria infection.
- Pregnant Hispanic women are about 24 times more likely than the general population to get Listeria infection
- Older adults: More than half (58%) of Listeria infections occur among adults 65 and older.
- Adults 65 years and older are about 4 times more likely than the general population to get Listeria infection.
- People with weakened immune systems - Individuals within this group also have a higher risk for Listeria infection due to underlying medical conditions such as cancer and immunosuppresive therapy (i.e., steroids, chemotherapy, radiation), liver or kidney disease, diabetes, alcoholism, and HIV/AIDS.
When to seek urgent medical care?
If you develop fever and chills while pregnant or if you are very sick with fever and muscle aches or stiff neck consult your doctor. A blood or spinal fluid test (to look for the bacteria) will show if you have listeriosis.
Diagnosis
- If you develop fever and chills while pregnant or if you are very sick with fever and muscle aches or stiff neck consult your doctor. A blood or spinal fluid test (to look for the bacteria) will show if you have listeriosis.
- Listeria is found in the environment and all people are exposed to it regularly. Therefore, there is no clinical value in performing laboratory testing on asymptomatic patients, even if higher risk.
- For symptomatic patients, diagnosis is confirmed only after isolation of Listeria monocytogenes from a normally sterile site, such as blood, spinal fluid (in the setting of nervous system involvement), or amniotic fluid/ placenta (in the setting of pregnancy).
- Stool samples are of limited use and are not recommended.
- Listeria monocytogenes can be isolated readily on routine media, but care must be taken to distinguish this organism from other Gram-positive rods, particularly diphtheroids.
- Selective enrichment media improve rates of isolation from contaminated specimens. You can expect that that the cultures will take 1-2 days for growth. Importantly, a negative culture does not rule out infection in the presence of strong clinical suspicion.
- Serological tests are unreliable, and not recommended at the present time.
Treatment options
- Antibiotics given promptly can cure the illness and prevent infection of the fetus.
- A person in a higher-risk category (pregnant woman, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems) who experiences fever and other non-specific symptoms, such as fatigue and aches, within 2 months of eating contaminated food should seek medical care and tell the physician or health care provider about eating the contaminated food.
- If a person has eaten food contaminated with Listeria and does not have any symptoms, most experts believe that no tests or treatment are needed, even for persons at higher risk for listeriosis.
- Even with prompt treatment, some Listeria infections result in death. This is particularly likely in older adults and in persons with other serious medical problems.
Where to find medical care for Listeriosis?
Directions to Hospitals Treating Listeriosis
What to expect (Outlook/Prognosis)?
Listeriosis in a fetus or infant results in a poor outcome with a high death rate. Healthy older children and adults have a lower death rate.
Possible complications
Infants who survive listeriosis may have long-term neurological damage and delayed development.
Prevention
You get listeriosis by eating food contaminated with Listeria. Babies can be born with listeriosis if their mothers eat contaminated food during pregnancy. However, healthy persons may consume contaminated foods without becoming ill. Persons at risk can prevent Listeria infection by avoiding certain high-risk foods and by handling food properly.