LISTERIA DISEASE: DIAGNOSIS, TRANSMISSION, SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT.
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Listeria is a gram-positive rod shaped bacterium that can grow under either anaerobic(without oxygen) and aerobic(with oxygen) conditions. Of the six species of listeria only L.monocytogenes causes disease in human. The bacteria multiply best at 86-98degrees fehreinheit (30-37degree celsius), but also multiply better than all other bacteria at refrigerator temperature, something that allows temperature to be used as a means of differentiating listeria from other contaminating bacteria.
TRANSMISSION INFECTION WITH LISTERIA
Listeria typically spreads to people through contaminated food or water, but can alswo be transmitted from mother to fetus. Except for the transmission of mother top fetus, human to human transmission of listeria is not known to occur. Infection is caused almost exclusively by the ingestion of the bacteria, most often through the consumption of contaminated food.
SYMPTOMS OF LISTERIA INFECTION
When a person is infected and develops symptoms of listeria infection, the resulting illness is known as LISTERIOSIS . Here are some symptoms of listeria in the body.
1.Fever
2.Muscle aches
3.Sometimes nausea or diarrhea
If infection spread to the nervous symptoms, symptoms such as:
4.Headache
5.Stiff neck
6.Loss of balance or convulsions
Infected pregnant women may experience only a MILD FLU like illness.
DIAGNOSES OF LISTERIA INFECTION
Listeria infection is diagnosed through blood or stool culture. Spinal fluid can also be tested for listeria, because there are few symptoms are unique to listeriosis, doctors must consider a variety of potential causes for infection including viral infection(like flu), and that may cause sepsis or meningitis.
RISK FACTORS OF LISTERIA INFECTION
Individuals whose cell-mediated immunity is suppressed are more susceptible to the devastatind effects of listeriosis, including especially HIV infected individual, whohave been found to have a listeria related mortality of 29%. Therefore, several segments of the population are at increased and need to be counselled so that proper instruction and precausions can be taken.
TREATMENT FOR LISTERIA INFECTION
Listeria infections typically resolve without treatment but antibodies may be necessary to treat some cases. Listeria is usually a self-limited illness which means that a majority of infected individuals will improve without the need for medical care. But for patient with a high fever, a stool culture and antibiotics treatment may be justified for otherwise healthy individual.
To patient who are allergic to penicillins, there is yet to be a concensus.