Listeriosis is a bacterial infection that can be very dangerous for pregnant women, newborns, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems. Most often, infection occurs by eating improperly processed meat and unpasteurized dairy products.
People who are not immunocompromised rarely get listeriosis, but the infection can be dangerous and even fatal for those at risk: pregnant women; people over 65 years of age; people with diseases that weaken the immune system (liver and kidney diseases, HIV infection, malignant neoplasms); patients with diabetes; people who are undergoing treatment that lowers the immune system (chemotherapy, immunosuppressive drugs, rheumatoid arthritis drugs and glucocorticosteroids).
For everyone who is at risk, the disease can be more severe and be accompanied by complications: endocarditis (inflammation of the inner lining of the heart - endocardium), sepsis (blood poisoning), inflammation of the membranes or brain tissue.
Listeriosis also poses a great threat to the fetus of a pregnant woman, in this case they speak of congenital listeriosis. If infected, it causes the death of the baby in the womb in at least 25% of cases, and also causes premature birth and severe infection in the newborn.
Listeria, also known as Listeria monocytogenes, is a bacterium that has the shape of a short rod with flagella. Listeria is not strictly anaerobic: it does not require oxygen to live, but it is also able to exist in its presence. A good habitat for Listeria is soil, silage pits and heaps, and ponds with standing water.
The bacterium is highly resistant in the external environment. It is capable of growing at temperatures from 1 to 45 °C and can actively reproduce in food products at the temperature of a household refrigerator.
Listeria is not easily killed by heat treatment: it survives for 20–30 minutes at 70°C and 3–5 minutes at 100°C. However, the bacterium becomes inactive when exposed to conventional disinfectants.
The source of infection is wild and domestic animals, as well as birds: with their excrement, bacteria enter the soil, water and onto plants. Listeriosis occurs in goats, sheep, cows, pigs, chickens, geese, and ducks. Therefore, a person becomes infected most often by eating meat or dairy products.
Listeria infections occur throughout the year. The infection can be found in soil, water, animal excrement and on plants. Therefore, listeriosis is most often found in those whose professional or household activities are associated with animals, plants or soil: agricultural workers and veterinarians, summer residents, as well as people with specific food preferences (eating without using cutlery, eating raw and semi-raw foods).
The main route of human infection with listeria is food, through consumption of infected foods: raw vegetables and fruits; meat and meat products: sausages, pate, sausages; unpasteurized milk or products made from it: for example, soft cheeses and ice cream; fast food: hot dogs, hamburgers, shawarma, etc.
There is also a vertical route of transmission of Listeria: from mother to child during pregnancy or childbirth. There are no other forms of transmission of infection from person to person. You cannot become infected with listeriosis by interacting with a person infected with the bacterium.
Other possible routes of infection with listeria:
contact: from infected animals;
aerogenic: in hospitals, tanneries (in areas where hides or wool are processed);
transmissible: from insect or tick bites.
In most people, listeriosis causes no symptoms or is mild and resembles a flu-like illness or gastroenteritis. 2–20% of people are asymptomatic carriers of Listeria. Manifestations of infection can occur either a few days after infection or a month later.
Symptoms of a mild form of listeriosis: body temperature 38 °C or higher, chills, muscle pain, nausea, diarrhea.
People at risk develop a severe form of listeriosis, which can manifest itself in the form of diseases such as sepsis (blood poisoning), meningitis (inflammation of the membranes of the brain or spinal cord), pneumonia (pneumonia).
In pregnant women, listeriosis can also resemble a flu-like illness and be accompanied by fever, chills, muscle pain, nausea and diarrhea. However, their incidence of listeriosis is 10–100 times higher than that of other people.
Listeriosis in the mother can lead to intrauterine infection of the fetus and cause severe obstetric pathology: premature birth, miscarriage or fetal death.
Chronic listeriosis is an indication for termination of pregnancy and antibacterial treatment afterwards.
Children with listeriosis may be irritable and have trouble eating.
In newborns, these manifestations may include high fever, vomiting and difficulty breathing.
In children born healthy and infected a short time after birth, the disease is severe: with the development of an infectious lesion of the central nervous system or blood poisoning. Due to the characteristics of the immune system, the first manifestations of listeriosis may not appear immediately, but in a severe form.
Listeriosis is extremely dangerous for newborns and can be fatal: about 3% of infants with this disease die.
In most cases, listeriosis is asymptomatic and has no complications. However, in pregnant women, infants, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems, the infection can lead to dangerous complications. Complications during pregnancy: miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth. Miscarriage occurs in about 25% of pregnant women with listeriosis.
For other people at risk, the infection can become severe and even lead to death.
How to reduce the risk of contracting listeriosis?
1. Cooling at appropriate temperature. Low temperatures slow down the growth of Listeria. To control the temperature in the refrigerator, you need to install a thermometer. Your refrigerator should be at +2+4°C and your freezer at -18°C.
2. Use ready-to-eat products within 2 hours! Use ready-to-eat, refrigerated food before the date printed on the package. The longer they are stored in the refrigerator, the greater the chance that listeria will grow.
3. Keep your refrigerator clean. Clean your refrigerator regularly. Clean up spills immediately. This is especially important because Listeria has no place to grow and then spread to other foods. Clean the interior walls and shelves with hot water and mild liquid dishwashing detergent, rinse, then dry with a clean cloth or paper towel.
Be healthy!
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