Sepsis and Meningitis due to Listeria Monocytogenes.
10.3349/ymj.2007.48.3.433
- Author:
Orhan YILDIZ
1
;
Bilgehan AYGEN
;
Duygu ESEL
;
Uner KAYABAS
;
Emine ALP
;
Bulent SUMERKAN
;
Mehmet DOGANAY
Author Information
1. Department of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey. oyildiz@erciyes.edu.tr, yildizorhan@hotmail.com
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Listeria monocytogenes;
sepsis;
meningitis;
listeriosis;
immunosuppressive
- MeSH:
Adrenal Cortex Hormones/therapeutic use;
Adult;
Aged;
Ascitic Fluid/microbiology;
Female;
Humans;
Immunosuppressive Agents/*therapeutic use;
Listeria Infections/blood/cerebrospinal fluid/*drug therapy;
Listeria monocytogenes/*drug effects/growth & development/isolation & purification;
Male;
Meningitis, Bacterial/blood/cerebrospinal fluid/*drug therapy;
Middle Aged;
Retrospective Studies;
Sepsis/blood/cerebrospinal fluid/*drug therapy;
Treatment Outcome
- From:Yonsei Medical Journal
2007;48(3):433-439
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: This study focused on the effect of immuno-compromising conditions on the clinical presentation of severe listerial infection. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Nine human listeriosis cases seen from 1991-2002 were reviewed. All adult patients, from whose blood, peritoneal fluid or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) the L. monocytogenes was isolated, were included in this retrospective study. RESULTS: Listeriosis presented as primary sepsis with positive blood cultures in 5 cases and meningitis with positive CSF cultures in 4 cases. All of these patients had at least one underlying disease, most commonly, hematologic malignancy, diabetes mellitus, amyloidosis and hepatic cirrhosis; 55.6% had received immunosuppressive or corticosteroid therapy within a week before the onset of listeriosis. The patients were adults with a mean age of 60 years. Fever, night sweats, chills and lethargy were the most common symptoms; high temperature (> 38 degrees C), tachycardia, meningeal signs and poor conditions in general were the most common findings on admission. The mortality rate was 33.3% and was strictly associated with the severity of the underlying disease. Mortality differences were significant between sepsis (20%) and meningitis (50%) patients. CONCLUSION: Listeriosis as an uncommon infection in our region and that immuno- suppressive therapy is an important pre-disposing factor of listeriosis. Sepsis and meningitis were more common in this group of patients and had the highest case-fatality rate for food-borne illnesses.
