– The organism is a facultatively anaerobic, nonsporulating, grampositive rod that demonstrates motility when cultured at low temperatures.
– Listeria is commonly found in processed and unprocessed foods such as soft cheeses, delicatessen meats, hot dogs, milk, and cold salads.
– After ingestion of food that contains a high bacterial burden, virulence factors expressed by Listeria allow internalization into cells, intracellular growth, and cell-to-cell spread.
– Recent annual incidences in the United States range from 2 to 9 cases per 1 million populations.
– There is no human-to-human transmission (other than vertical transmission from mother to fetus) or waterborne infection.
Listeria causes several clinical syndromes, of which meningitis and septicemia are most common.
Gastroenteritis: Can develop within 48 h after ingestion of contaminated foods containing a large bacterial inoculum.
– Bacteremia: Pts present with fever, chills, myalgias, and arthralgias. Endocarditis is uncommon and is associated with fatality rates of 35–50%.
– Meningitis: Listeria causes ~5–10% of cases of community-acquired meningitis in adults in the United States, with case–fatality rates of 15–26%.
– Meningoencephalitis and focal CNS infection: Listeria can directly invade the brain parenchyma and cause cerebritis or focal abscesses.
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