Listeria is a bacterium that can affect anyone, but pregnant women, newborns, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems are most susceptible. It enters the body through contaminated food and can cause severe symptoms, including miscarriage or stillbirth in pregnant women. Early treatment with antibiotics can lead to a full recovery, but those with weakened immune systems are still at risk of death. Diagnosis is made through blood or spinal fluid tests, and treatment involves aggressive antibiotics.
Pregnant women, fetuses and newborns are among those most susceptible to listeria. Individuals with HIV, AIDS, cancer, and other underlying diseases or conditions that have weakened immune systems are also at risk of infection. Older people are also more likely to get listeria than the rest of the population.
Listeria monocytogenes, also known as listeriosis and more commonly referred to simply as listeria, can affect anyone at any age, but it most commonly affects those with compromised immune systems. In most cases, the infection makes a person very ill, but many recover with antibiotic treatment. A number of people infected with listeriosis, however, never recover and eventually die from the infection.
As a bacterium found in soil and water, listeriosis eventually enters foods that are exposed to these infectious elements. It then enters the body when these foods are eaten. While listeriosis is found in raw or undercooked foods, it can also be found in cooked foods once the infected sources have cooled naturally after cooking or have been cooled by refrigeration. Newborns can also be infected with listeriosis at birth if the mother suffered from the infection during pregnancy.
Symptoms of listeria include extreme gastrointestinal discomfort, body aches, fever, and headache. Symptoms may also include stiff neck, mental confusion, seizures and dizziness. In pregnant women, listeriosis can cause miscarriage or stillbirth. While the infection can cause uncomfortable symptoms in pregnant women – and many women survive the disease with proper medical treatment – it unfortunately has a devastating effect on unborn babies, as many do not survive even with prompt medical intervention. In addition to the common symptoms seen in other patients, some of the symptoms present in neonatal infections include respiratory distress, meningitis, sepsis, and jaundice.
When infected individuals receive medical treatment for listeria in its early onset, many survive the disease and experience a full recovery. Those who do not receive treatment for listeriosis, however, experience worsening symptoms and eventually die from the infection. Even with aggressive treatment for listeriosis, however, individuals with previous weakened immune systems are at risk of dying.
Suspected cases of listeria are medically diagnosed after blood or spinal fluid tests. Doctors then commonly prescribe an intravenous treatment with listeria monocytogenes in an attempt to aggressively kill the bacteria in a person’s body. Antibiotics, such as penicillin and amoxicillin, are among the most commonly used to fight a listeriosis infection.
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