Symptoms

• Pregnant women: Pregnant women typically experience only fever and other flu-like symptoms, such as fatigue and muscle aches.
• People other than pregnant women: Symptoms can include headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions in addition to fever and muscle aches.

What infection does Listeria monocytogenes cause?

Some people with Listeria infections, most commonly adults 65 years and older and people with weakened immune systems, develop severe infections of the bloodstream (causing sepsis) or brain (causing meningitis or encephalitis).

How long does Listeria symptoms last?

The initial symptoms of listeriosis might not become apparent for some time; the incubation period is variable and can be anything from 11-70 days after consuming food with Listeria. The following symptoms of Listeria infection are likely to last 1-3 days: muscle aches.

Is Listeria a bacteria or virus?

Listeriosis is a serious infection usually caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. An estimated 1,600 people get listeriosis each year, and about 260 die.

Is Listeria Gram positive or negative?

Listeria monocytogenes is a facultative, intracellular, gram-positive rod that is responsible for causing the infection listeriosis. Listeria causes severe infection in the elderly, neonates and the immunocompromised with only a self-limited gastrointestinal infection in the immunocompetent.

Does Listeria monocytogenes produce a toxin?

Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen capable of secreting listeriolysin O (LLO), a pore-forming toxin encoded by the hly gene.

What antibiotics treat listeria?

Listeria infections are associated with a high mortality rate, and thus effective antibiotic treatment is essential. Although a variety of antibiotics have activity against the organism, ampicillin alone or in combination with gentamicin remains the treatment of choice.

How does listeria monocytogenes affect the body?

Listeriosis causes fever, muscle aches, and sometimes nausea or diarrhea. If the infection spreads beyond the gastrointestinal tract, symptoms such as headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, or convulsions can occur in addition to fever and muscle aches.

What are the long-term effects of Listeria?

A Listeria infection can lead to meningitis, an inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain. If a newborn infant is infected with Listeria, long-term consequences may include mental retardation, seizures, paralysis, blindness, or deafness.

Why is Listeria so dangerous?

Listeria are bacteria that can cause a serious illness called listeriosis in some people. While Listeria infection is uncommon and causes few or no symptoms in healthy people, it can be very dangerous for those people at risk. Listeriosis is usually caused by eating food contaminated by certain types of Listeria bacteria.

When do symptoms of late-onset listeriosis appear?

Commonly, symptoms of late-onset listeriosis appear about two weeks after birth. Babies with late-term disease typically have meningitis (inflammation of the brain and spinal tissues); yet they have a better chance of surviving than those with early-onset disease.