Tips and tricks to protect pregnancy from listeria

Listeriosis occurs almost exclusively in pregnant
women, newborns, the elderly, and people with
weakened immune systems. Pregnant women are 18
times more likely to get listeriosis than other healthy
adults. According to the World Health Organization
(WHO), the onset of Listeria spp. during pregnancy
accounted for nearly 43% of total cases, and 14%
occurred in late pregnancies. Pregnant women
infected with Listeria spp. could be asymptomatic,
but if they exhibit symptoms, they are mild, almost
like influenza, such as fever, headache, diarrhea,
myalgia, or other digestive-related symptoms, so can
be easily misdiagnosed. It can develop at any time
during pregnancy and can cause miscarriage, stillbirth,
and premature birth. In the fetus and newborn, the
symptoms can be severe, such as respiratory distress,
pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis. Approximately
20% of pregnancies with listeriosis will result in
spontaneous abortion or stillbirth. The research
aimed to summarize the evidence available regarding
listeriosis in pregnancy and educate providers
on prevention, clinical symptoms, sequelae, and
appropriate treatment guidelines.
A review was conducted using a search for articles
about listeriosis and pregnancy from PubMed
and Scopus, using the terms ”Listeria pregnancy
guidelines”, “Listeria pregnancy”, “Maternal listeriosis,”
and “Neonatal listeriosis”. The search included review
articles, original research articles, and guidelines on
diagnosis and management of listeriosis in pregnancy
as well as the actual national antenatal care guidelines.
The results of this research show that listeriosis in
pregnancy can result in severe adverse maternal, fetal,
and neonatal outcomes. Early diagnosis and treatment
have been shown to improve fetal and neonatal
outcomes; therefore, prevention with education and
early diagnosis prompting treatment will improve
overall outcomes. This research has contributed to
the possible need to raise awareness among health
providers, obstetricians, and reproductive women for
the importance of prevention and early detection of
Listeria monocitogenes before and during pregnancy.
Listeriosis may cause serious consequences for the
fetus and newborn. It requires obstetricians to think
about the possibility of pregnancy-related Listeria in
pregnant women with influenza-like symptoms and
a high-risk diet history. Professional associations and
governments may need to strengthen the surveillance
for listeriosis to reduce the incidence rate. Additional
cost-benefit analyses of routinely monitoring
pregnant women are warranted to decrease illness
load and ameliorate prognosis through prophylactic
management. Prevention, early diagnosis, and
treatment before and during early pregnancy to avoid
complications are of great importance.