Category: Diseases and injuries

Listeriosis, a foodborne infection

Ice cream from a plant was contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, causing illness and deaths. Listeriosis is a foodborne illness caused by this bacteria, present in raw and processed foods. Symptoms include fever, chills, and upset stomach. Treatment involves antibiotics. Pregnant women, older adults, and those with weak immune systems are most at risk.

Ice cream from an ice cream plant may have been contaminated with a bacteria, Listeria monocytogenes. Although few people have been affected, at least 3 deaths have been connected to this infection.

What is Listeria?

Listeriosis is a foodborne illness caused by Listeria monocytogenes, bacteria found in soil and water. It can be in a variety of raw foods as well as in processed foods and foods made from unpasteurized milk. Listeria is unlike many other germs because it can grow even in the cold temperature of the refrigerator.

This illustration depicts a three-dimensional (3D), computer-generated image of a grouping of Listeria monocytogenes bacteria. The artistic recreation was based upon scanning electron microscopic (SEM) imagery.Illustrator: Jennifer Oosthuizen, from the CDC, public domain

Symptoms include fever and chills, headache, upset stomach and vomiting. Treatment is with antibiotics.

Anyone can get the illness. But it is most likely to affect pregnant women and unborn babies, older adults, and people with weak immune systems. To reduce your risk:

  • Use precooked and ready-to-eat foods as soon as you can
  • Avoid raw milk and raw milk products
  • Heat ready-to-eat foods and leftovers until they are steaming hot
  • Wash fresh fruits and vegetables
  • Avoid rare meat and refrigerated smoked seafood

Exploring the HEART of Health

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Fever- Keep calm and …

Fever- act on the facts not the fallacies; learn how here
#fever#seizures

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I don’t know where the “keep calm” slogan originated, but it certainly applies in the case of fever.  Many people consider fever a bona fide emergency, especially in children.

But fever is just a symptom, usually due to a benign (minor) illness that is self-limited (will go away on its own). In less common circumstances, it is due to a serious or even life threatening disease.

a woman taking her temperature
This photograph depicted a woman who was using a modern, battery-powered oral thermometer, in order to measure her body temperature. In order to return an accurate reading, this particular type of thermometer needed to be placed beneath the user’s tongue, for a set amount of time, beeping when the ambient, sublingual temperature was reached. Photo credit-James Gathany, CDC, public domain

“5 truths about fevers in children” explains that, and most of the content applies just as well to adults as children. One difference is that febrile seizures do not occur in adults.

A febrile seizure is one for which there is no other cause – the fever caused the seizure.

So if an older child, adolescent or adult with a fever has a seizure, that seizure must be due to something else; for example, meningitis, an infection of the brain lining, can cause fever and seizures; in that case the seizure is due to the infection, not the fever. In this case, the seizure is the emergency, not the fever.

source: clevelandclinic.org/HealthHub
source: clevelandclinic.org/HealthHub

other posts to help you identify serious illness

Have a sick child? Here’s when to call the doctor

Symptoms for which evaluation should not be delayed if severe, persistent or worsening include

  • Difficulty breathing
  • Fainting, passing out
  • Hives, swelling, rash (due to an allergic reaction) 
  • Lethargy or unexplained sleepiness
  • Severe pain
  • Vomiting and/or diarrhea if persistent or profuse 
  • Burns
  • Bleeding, uncontrolled 
  • Fever

Call 911, it’s an emergency! or is it?

An emergent medical condition is one that

  • Threatens life
  • Threatens one or more limbs
  • Threatens vision/hearing/speech/mental function/ function of any major internal organ or organ system
  • Has the potential, if not treated promptly, to cause death or long term and/or permanent harm.

exploring the HEART of health

Dr. Aletha

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