Symptomatic hydrocephalus in a newborn infected with listeria monocytogenes

Abstract

Central nervous system infections caused by Listeria monocytogenes produce a wide range of clinical symptoms which include cerebral abscesses, meningitis and nonmeningitic parenchymal cerebritis. A case study is presented of early listeriosis with signs of meningitis accompanied with septicemia and complicated with severe hydrocephalus.

Listeriosis during Pregnancy: A Public Health Concern

“…Moreover, pregnant women may be asymptomatic or present nonspecific clinical symptoms (e.g., flu-like symptoms, backache, headache, vomiting/diarrhea, muscle pains, and sore throat) [64–66]. Gupta et al [67] stated that microbiological examinations are not usually made on spontaneous or premature abortions; thus, it is difficult to infer the actual incidence of listeriosis [68]. …”

“…A transplacentary fetal infection may result in abortion, as already stated, premature birth, or an infected neonate [54, 68]. Laciar et al [68] Doyle [58] and Schwab and Edelweiss [69] agree that most cases of the intrauterine infection are a consequence of the transplacentary dissemination after bacteremia in pregnant women and less frequently due to an ascending contamination from the pregnant woman's lower genital tract colonized by L. monocytogenes, as the vagina and cervix are also potentially carrier sites of this microorganism [48].…”

“…Laciar et al [68] Doyle [58] and Schwab and Edelweiss [69] agree that most cases of the intrauterine infection are a consequence of the transplacentary dissemination after bacteremia in pregnant women and less frequently due to an ascending contamination from the pregnant woman's lower genital tract colonized by L. monocytogenes, as the vagina and cervix are also potentially carrier sites of this microorganism [48]. More commonly, infection during the passage of the fetus through the birth canal may result in the nosocomial transmission in the neonatal nursery [70].…”

“…The diagnosis of listeriosis in pregnancy and early treatment would be possible if all the febrile episodes during pregnancy were evaluated through a blood culture [67, 68]. For this purpose, pregnant women should report any disease symptom, because listeriosis can be apparently harmless for the pregnant woman but severely infect the fetus [52, 75, 77].…”

Avaliação de cepas de microrganismos probióticos a base de Lactobacillus sobre o sistema imunológico de camundongos Swiss

“…monocytogenes não é freqüentemente isolada em ambientes clínicos, mas é potencialmente séria, sendo capaz de causar infecções alimentares, apresentando um percentual 30% de casos fatais. O maior número de mortes está relacionado com fetos, neonatos, gestantes e imunocomprometidos, que constituem grupo de risco(SILVA, 1999).ConformeLacir et al (2000), em mulheres grávidas a doença normalmente aparece como sintoma de uma rápida gripe, mas desaparecem rapidamente com o tratamento, mas pode levar a sérios problemas infecciosos, que em 20 % dos casos leva ao aborto. Na Argentina, a taxa de morbidade em recém nascidos atinge 78,6%, devido a listeriose.Segundo De Martinis;Santarosa; Franco (2003), tem sido reportado a presença de Listeria entre 5 a 13% nos produtos cárneos, mas no Brasil está incidência tem sido maior, pois o microrganismo apresenta habilidade para sobreviver e se proliferar em temperaturas de refrigeração, toleram ambientes em condições adversas, causados pelo baixo pH e pela alta concentração de sais.O microrganismo desenvolveu estratégia para movimentar-se e infectar cada vez mais células do hospedeiro.…”