When do listeria symptoms appear

Infection of a newborn can lead to pneumonia and death. For this reason, prevention of listeriosis during pregnancy is extremely important. Pregnant women should avoid certain types of food, such as hot dogs, deli meats, and soft cheeses in order to lower their risk. Understanding how your food is prepared and following food safety guidelines can also help prevent this infection. Listeriosis is rare in non-pregnant healthy adults, but the infection is up to 20 times more common in pregnant women, according to a review in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Most pregnant women have no symptoms or problems from the infection. However, the fetus is highly susceptible to this type of bacterium. The infection can spread into and across the placenta. Infection with Listeria — known as listeriosis — is severe and often fatal for the baby. Symptoms may start anywhere from two days to two months after exposure to the bacteria. Symptoms in pregnant women may be similar to the symptoms of the flu or cold. They may include:. Be sure to contact your healthcare provider if you are pregnant and experience any of these symptoms.

However, she can still pass the infection on to her unborn baby without knowing it. Listeriosis is an infection caused by eating foods contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. The bacteria are commonly found in water, soil, and animals. Vegetables can be contaminated from the soil. Listeria is killed by cooking and pasteurization the process of heating a liquid to a high temperature to kill germs.

This bacterium is unusual because it grows well at the same temperature as your refrigerator. People typically catch listeriosis by eating the following contaminated foods:. Women with certain conditions are at a slightly higher risk of infection. These include the following conditions:. Many cases of listeriosis occur in healthy pregnant women. Pregnant Hispanic women are also at a higher risk — roughly 24 times more likely than the general population to be infected.

A doctor will suspect listeriosis if you are pregnant and have a fever or flu-like symptoms. Listeria is difficult to diagnose. Your doctor will try to confirm a diagnosis by performing a blood culture to test for presence of the bacteria. The cultures may take up to two days for growth. Because it is so serious for the baby, your doctor may start treatment for listeriosis even before they get the results. If you are pregnant and are infected with listeriosis, you are at an increased risk of:.

Rarely, people without these risk factors are affected. A person with listeriosis usually has fever and muscle aches, sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms. Almost everyone who is diagnosed with listeriosis has invasive infection, meaning the bacteria spread from their intestines to the blood, causing bloodstream infection, or to the central nervous system, causing meningitis.

Although people can sometimes develop listeriosis up to 2 months after eating contaminated food, symptoms usually start within several days. Listeriosis is treated with antibiotics. If a person has eaten food contaminated with Listeria and does not have any symptoms, most experts believe that no tests or treatment are needed, even for people at higher risk for listeriosis.

Read the full Outbreak Investigation. Sign up for RSS Feed. Listeria Listeriosis. Home treatment for listeriosis is similar to treatment for any foodborne illness. You will likely need to stay in the hospital and be treated with IV medications. Antibiotics through an IV can help eliminate the infection, and the hospital staff can watch for complications. Recovery from a mild infection may be quick.

You should feel back to normal within three to five days. If you have a more advanced infection, recovery depends on the severity of the infection. If your infection becomes invasive, recovery may take up to six weeks.

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