Outbreaks of hollowed-out listeriosis have recently shown how little this disease is known at the grassroots level, as well as the need to increase food safety standards. Preventive measures that, together with the in-depth study of isolated cases to find out whether they are part of micro-outbreaks, are key to reducing the number of cases diagnosed per year and even to their eradication.
Knowing more about these types of diseases helps us know how to detect and treat them immediately. In the case of listeriosis, early diagnosis and rapid treatment are basic to curb its effects and improve the prognosis of those most serious patients. Therefore, below we discover what listeriosis is, its causes, symptoms, and prevention.
What is Listeriosis?
Listeriosis is a serious disease of infectious origin and has as its main cause Listeria monocytogenes, a bacterium found in nature. A pathogen that causes very violent food infections and can reach mortality rates of between 20 and 30 per cent, becoming one of the most severe toxic food infections. Its incidence is quite low in Europe, with an average of 0.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Causes
Listeria is present and abounds in the water, in the soil, and in decomposing plant matter, infecting wild and domestic animals. It can be transmitted through different methods, the most frequent being the consumption of raw unpasteurized milk and its derivatives, meat, fish, seafood, and contaminated vegetables.
This food poisoning can affect anyone with a greater or lesser degree of severity, although pregnant women, newborns, people over 50 years of age, and people with immunocompromised or with autoimmune diseases are particularly prone. Also, and less frequently, patients with renal, haematological, and liver pathologies may also be more affected.
Although the main cause is usually the consumption of contaminated food, the transmission of listeriosis is also vertical, i.e., it can go from mother to the foetus, either in the uterus or during childbirth, by contact with infected animals and by hospital or in-hospital acquisition.
Symptoms
Symptoms of listeriosis do not appear immediately and usually begin about 24 hours after poisoning occurs, even if they do not manifest until one or two months later. The most common symptoms of this disease are fever and chills, headache, confusion or balance problems, nausea, diarrhea, muscle aches, neck stiffness, and seizures.
Listeriosis can be mild or non-invasive gastrointestinal, the most common clinical form, with its symptoms appearing 24 hours after contact with infected foods; and invasive or severe, a clinical presentation that can be studied with other pathologies such as encephalitis or meningitis and bacteriemia.
Prevention
Prevention is essential to avoid listeriosis poisoning; it is highly advisable to wash your hands well after having contact with animals. In addition to the cooking of food of animal origin should be carried out at temperatures above 70 °C.
It is therefore advisable to follow this series of basic prevention and control measures to prevent poisoning:
– Washing carefully the foods that are going to be eaten raw, such as vegetables, vegetables and fruits.
– Maintain a constant cleaning and hygiene of all kitchenware, disinfecting and cleaning fridge, sinks, cutting board, dishes, and all surfaces and kitchenware.
– Consume products once opened or unsealed within the time recommended by the manufacturer.
– Do not break the cold chain and avoid cross-contamination.
– Follow the recommendations on storage temperature, handling, and expiry dates of the food, in addition to being attentive to the state of the packaging.
– Avoid the consumption of fresh cheese and raw milk.
Pregnancy
In the case of pregnant women, listeriosis can affect them in any of the quarters of pregnancy, although it is common for the risk of pregnancy to increase during the third trimester and even more so in the warmer months, when food conservation is more complicated and there is a greater proliferation of bacteria due to temperature changes.
Symptoms of listeriosis in pregnant women are usually mild and begin with a mild fever and muscle and joint pain, leading to confusion with a viral illness. The number of cases of pregnant women affected by listeriosis is low, although it can be a severe illness if diagnosed late. The most serious consequence is that the infection reaches the fetus transplacentally, causing miscarriage or premature delivery of a stillborn or sick child. It is therefore important to consider the possibility of listeriosis at any time if a pregnant woman experiences a fever without a clear source during pregnancy. In both pregnant women and newborns, it is considered invasive listeriosis.
Treatments
If given in time, antibiotic treatments destroy bacteria and manage to curb replication. Ampicillin, aquino, is used to combat the Listeria monocytogenes. Its action on the bacteria prevents their replication, being sufficient to tackle the infection.
For more severe cases, Gentamicin, an aminoglycoside that blocks the bacteria’s production of proteins to eliminate them, is often used.
These antibiotic treatments are combined with antipyretics to control fever, Corticosteroids in case of meningitis, heart drugs to control blood pressure, and oxygen administration in cases of sepsis, among others.
All these medicines should be prescribed by a specialist once a patient assessment has been done. That’s why it’s very important to go to the doctor when you have the symptoms, and don’t self-medicate.