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What does Listeriosis mean?

Listeriosis is a serious infectious disease (about 608 cases in Germany in the year 2014) caused by eating food, contaminated kontaminiert with a bacterium. The species we are going to talk about is called Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria is found in the environment, the soil die Erde , in plants and in animals.

Who gets infected and is at risk?

Listeriosis primarily affects older adults, pregnant women, newborns, adults with weakened immune systems and people with certain diseases, such as autoimmune diseases, cancer, end-stage renal diseases, liver diseases, alcoholism and diabetes. Seldomly people without these risk factors may also be affected. The two main clinical manifestations are sepsis and meningitis. The lethality of Listeriosis is about 7 percent. The infection can also be transmitted übertragen transplacentally during birth or postnatally through contact with the newborn.

What are the symptoms of Listeriosis?

Listeriosis can be asymptomatic or symptomatic. Usually patients have fever and muscle aches, diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms. The symptoms vary from headache, stiff neck, confusion, weakness, vomiting das Erbrechen , loss of balance, and convulsions die Krämpfe in addition to fever and muscle aches.

Pregnant women typically have fever and other non-specific symptoms, such as fatigue and aches. Infections during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage die Fehlgeburt , stillbirth die Totgeburt , premature delivery, or a life-threatening infection of the newborn.

In older adults and people with immunocompromising conditions, septicemia and meningitis are the most common clinical presentation.

What about the clinical diagnosis?

Listeria monocytogenes is a bacteria that is

Gram-positive, rod-shaped, nonsporeforming nicht sporenbildend , catalase-positive, sometimes arranged in short chains (microscopy), member of the Corynebacteriaceae family, forming flagella at room temperature, hemolytically active on blood agar (but this is not a definitive criterion). Various species of the genus Listeria are characterized by a CAMP-Test, MALDI-TOF-massspectrometry, or PCR. The bacteria can be detected in the patient’s blood, spinal fluid, pus, vaginal secretion, amniotic fluid/placenta or meconium.

How long is the incubation period?

The incubation period lasts from some hours to 12 days. It depends on the manifestation.

How is Listeriosis treated?

Listeriosis is treated with antibiotics. The first choice antibiotic is amoxicillin or ampicillin in high dosages in combination with aminoglycosides. The second choice is cotrimoxazol.

How can you protect yourself from infection?

Listeria may occur in uncooked food or in soil, so:

wash your hands, clean knives and chopping blocks after handling and preparing raw foods, rinse etw. abspülen uncooked food thoroughly under running water and rub fruits or vegetables with a clean brush, before eating, cutting, or cooking, do not drink raw milk die Rohmilch , and avoid foods prepared with unpasteurized milk, keep uncooked meat, poultry das Geflügel , and fish apart from vegetables, fruits, or cooked foods, dry the produce with a clean paper towel, eat perishable verderbliches Gut or ready-made foods as soon as possible. Take care about:

Cleanliness and safety in your kitchen (e.g. wash your hands, knives etc., control the refrigerator temperature etc.), cook any meat and poultry thoroughly, do not drink raw (unpasteurized) milk, store your food safely. People at higher risk groups should:

heat meat (hot dogs, cold cuts die Wurstwaren, die Fleischplatte , and deli meats) before eating them, pay attention to labels and avoid getting the fluid of the meat. not eat soft or raw milk cheeses (e.g. feta, queso blanco, brie etc.), make sure the label says: „Made with pasteurized milk“. If you pay attention to this recommendations you can feel confident sicher about yourself.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Marjorie Kelly Cowan: Microbiology: A Systems Approach. McGraw-Hill Education, 2015 2. http://dict.leo.org 3. www.dict.cc 4. www.webster-dictionary.org

EXERCISE: 1. Which of the following statements are true of Listeria species? A) They are Gram-positive. B) L. monocytogenes is nonmotile. C) All Listeria species are pathogenic for humans.

2. Which of the following methods are done in the diagnosis of Listeria monocytogenes? A) Culture. B) Gram stain. C) Gas-liquid chromatography.

3. Which of the following statements are true concerning Listeria monocytogenes? A) Infection is harmless harmlos . B) Soft cheese is a low risk food. C) It is ubiquitous ubiquitär in the environment. D) Infection may be acquired transplacentally.

You’ll find the answers on page 2.

Die Autorin: Carmen Lobitz mail@lobitz-seminare.de www.lobitz-seminare.de Carmen Lobitz ist freie Trainerin, Lehrerin und MTA. Sie gründete 1998 in Berlin lobitz seminare, die u.a. Englischseminare für Health Professionals anbieten.

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Answers:

1. A & B

2. A & B

3. C & D

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