Listeriosis

General description of the disease

This is a zoonotic bacterial pathology, the causative agent of which is listeria microorganisms.^[3]… Listeriosis can affect the immune and nervous systems, as well as vital organs. As a rule, the disease manifests itself in isolated outbreaks, but there are cases of widespread spread, but this happens extremely rarely.

According to WHO, 2-3 cases of the disease are registered annually per 1000000 inhabitants. The presented infection is widespread everywhere, regardless of the climate and economic situation in the country.

All types of animals and birds, including domesticated ones, are susceptible to listeriosis. In immunocompromised patients, listeriosis may be asymptomatic. Children, pregnant women, the elderly and HIV-positive people are most susceptible to infection.

Listeria are resistant to unfavorable environmental conditions, tolerate frosts well, are able to reproduce in water and on animal corpses, and remain viable under direct exposure to the sun’s rays for up to 15 minutes.

After recovery, in a person who has undergone listeriosis, specific antibodies are formed in the body, so people do not get sick with this infection again.

Causes of listeriosis

Listeria can enter the human body through wounds and scratches on the skin, tonsils, mucous membranes of the eyes and gastrointestinal tract, through the upper respiratory tract and through the umbilical cord to the fetus.

Listeria are introduced into cells in the human body and begin to multiply there, in turn, the body begins to produce phagocytes, with which the Listeria penetrate into the lymph and are carried throughout the body.

Ways of spreading listeria:

• hematogenous… If the immune system is not able to fight the causative agent of infection, listeria damage the walls of blood vessels, penetrate the bloodstream and provoke the development of sepsis, as a result of which the nervous system and internal organs are affected;
• across the placenta… In an infected expectant mother, Listeria penetrates the placenta, through it they enter the baby’s liver and then spread through the bloodstream throughout the fetus’s body;
• lymphogenous… The bacteria spread through the lymphatic system and settle in the lymph nodes, which become enlarged.

Forms of listeriosis

1. 1 congenital – the child becomes infected from the mother during intrauterine development or the first month of life;
2. 2 angio-septic occurs when infection through the mouth or airborne droplets;
3. 3 nervous can form with any method of infection;
4. 4 ocular – the rarest form that occurs when infected by contact;
5. 5 typhoid typical for children with immunodeficiency.

The source of infection can be infected people, as well as rodents, cats, pigs, dogs, fish and seafood, cattle and small ruminants, monkeys.

A person can become infected with listeriosis in the following ways:

• contact – from an infected person, through saliva after being bitten by an infected animal, through damaged skin;
• transplacental – can lead to stillbirth, miscarriage and developmental delay. The child can become infected from the mother through breastfeeding and airborne droplets;
• aerogenic – when an infected person coughs, talks or sneezes, or when dressing skins or fluff;
• alimentary – when eating salted fish, canned food, water from natural reservoirs, dairy products.

The risk group for listeriosis includes:

1. 1 children under 6 years of age;
2. 2 elderly people over 60;
3. 3 people with immunodeficiencies;
4. 4 patients with diabetes mellitus and tuberculosis;
5. 5 people suffering from cancer and autoimmune diseases;
6. 6 people who, by virtue of their profession, fall into a risk group: foresters, fishermen, midwives, veterinarians, milkmaids, slaughterhouse workers, cattlemen.

Symptoms of listeriosis

The symptoms of the presented disease differ depending on the form of the disease:

• intoxication syndrome manifests itself as a debilitating fever, severe headache, aching muscle pain, vomiting, possibly redness of the eyes and skin. It can last from 4 to 21 days and is characteristic of all forms of the disease;
• dyspeptic disorders… Digestive disorders can be expressed by diarrhea, loss of appetite, sharp or, on the contrary, aching pain in the liver. Similar symptoms can occur for up to 30 days in all forms of listeriosis;
• swollen lymph nodes can be in the range from 0,5 to 2 cm. In this case, the lymph nodes can be painful, but without purulent contents. These symptoms can be signs of any form of the disease;
• hepatosplenomegaly… With lymph, listeria enter the liver and spleen, after which they begin to multiply there. Therefore, when examining a patient, there is an increase in these organs by 1-2 cm;
• angina… Once in the tonsils, Listeria begin to multiply, the tonsils enlarge and become loose. The appearance of purulent foci in the form of dots or purulent grayish films is possible. Similar symptoms are characteristic of the anginal-septic form, and can be observed for 5-15 days;
• swelling of the eyelids, conjunctivitis is observed in the ocular-glandular form of listeriosis, after the ingress of listeria into the sclera of the eye. The patient is worried about lacrimation, decreased visual acuity, photophobia, in some cases purulent discharge from the eye;
• meningitis, meningoencephalitis develops with a nervous form of listeriosis. The patient complains of intolerable headache with vomiting, paresthesia, impaired consciousness, ptosis, speech impairment, anisocoria;
• sepsis. Penetrating into the bloodstream, listeria spread throughout the body and provoke malfunctions in the work of vital organs. The patient complains of hypotension, fever, shortness of breath, tachycardia, decreased urine output, jaundice and skin rashes. These symptoms are characteristic of the typhoid form.

Complications of listeriosis

With incorrect or untimely treatment of listeriosis, serious complications are possible. With a nervous form, hydrocephalus and dementia can develop. The septic form can result in respiratory failure or infectious toxic shock.

Prophylaxis of listeriosis

1. 1 sanitary and epidemic measures include: control over contaminated products, destruction of corpses of animals infected with listeriosis, control of rodents in food warehouses, regular examination of people of occupational risk groups, isolation of sick animals;
2. 2 individual measures include: mandatory heat treatment of dairy, meat and fish products, hand hygiene, drinking purified water, limiting contact with stray animals and pigeons, careful handling of animal bites;
3. 3 general measures: regular preventive examinations, prevention of diabetes mellitus, the use of only high-quality food and water.

Treatment of listeriosis in mainstream medicine

The therapy of the disease described requires an integrated approach. The success of treatment depends on the timely diagnosis, the form of the disease, the age and state of the patient’s immune system and the timely initiation of therapy. Listeria patients are treated only in a hospital setting.

With listeriosis, prolonged antibiotic treatment is prescribed – from 14 to 20 days. In addition, detoxification therapy is needed, due to which the waste products of Listeria are removed from the body. In the presence of edema, diuretics are prescribed.

In some cases, hormone therapy is indicated for patients with listeriosis, and for meningitis and encephalitis, drugs that improve cerebral circulation are necessarily prescribed. With sepsis, it is necessary to carry out at least 3-5 sessions of plasmaphoresis.

In addition, concomitant diseases should be treated and blood glucose should be closely monitored.

Attention!

The administration is not responsible for any attempt to use the information provided, and does not guarantee that it will not harm you personally. The materials cannot be used to prescribe treatment and make a diagnosis. Always consult your specialist doctor!