LISTERIAL INFECTIONS

• Etiology and Micro biology:- Listeria monocytogenes is a food-borne pathogen that can cause serious infections, particularly in pregnant women and immunocompromised individuals.

– 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.

• Epidemiology:-

– 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.

CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS: -

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.

• Listeriosis should be considered in outbreaks of gastroenteritis when cultures for other likely pathogens are negative.
• Sporadic cases appear to be uncommon.

– 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%.

• Listerial meningitis differs from meningitis of other bacterial etiologies in that its presentation is often subacute and the CSF profile usually reveals <1000 WBCs/μL with a less marked neutrophil predominance.
• Low glucose levels and a positive Gram’s stain are seen in ~30–40% of cases.

– Meningoencephalitis and focal CNS infection: Listeria can directly invade the brain parenchyma and cause cerebritis or focal abscesses.

HOMEOPATHIC MANAGEMENT: -

The medicines that can be thought of use are:-

• Kali bi
• Pulsatilla
• Mercurious
• Nat mur
• Allium cepa.