Listeria Infection, (Listeriosis) A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

This book describes Listeria Infection, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases
Listeria infection is a food borne bacterial illness that can be very dangerous for pregnant women and people with reduced immune systems.
Listeria infection is most often contracted by eating improperly processed deli meats, raw contaminated fruits and un-pasteurized milk products.
Healthy people seldom become ill from listeria infection, but the disease can be fatal to unborn babies and newborns.
People who have weaker immune systems also are at greater risk of life-threatening complications.
Prompt antibiotic treatment can help stop the effects of listeria infection.
Listeria bacteria can live in refrigerators and even freezing.
That is why people who are at higher risk of serious infections should avoid eating the types of food most prone to contain listeria bacteria.
Causes
Listeria bacteria can be present in soil, water and animal feces.
Humans normally are infected by consuming:
1. Raw fruits and vegetables that have been contaminated from the soil or from contaminated manure used as fertilizer
2. Contaminated animal meat
3. Un-pasteurized milk or foods made with un-pasteurized milk
4. Certain processed foods such as soft cheeses, hot dogs and deli meats that have been contaminated after processing
5. Unborn babies can contract a listeria infection from the mother through the placenta.
Listeriosis is a bacterial infection caused by Listeria monocytogenes.
The bacteria are found in soil, water, effluents, a large variety of foods, and the feces of humans and animals.
Infection with listeriosis happens primarily through food borne transmission.
Epidemics have been reported in link with dairy products, particularly soft cheeses made from raw (un-pasteurized) milk, processed and ready-to-eat meats, raw mushrooms, fresh produce such as fruits and vegetables and seafood.
The incubation period of Listeria ranges from 3 to 70 days (normally 1-4 weeks).
Risk factors
The population groups at higher risk of infection are pregnant women, the elderly or persons with a weakened immune system, e.g. people in immuno-compromised status due to AIDS, leukemia, active malignancy, solid organ transplants, steroids and immunosuppressive therapy.
Pregnant women and people who have weak immune systems are at highest risk of contracting a listeria infection.
Symptoms
If the patient has a listeria infection, he or she may experience:
1. Fever
2. Muscle aches
3. Nausea
4. Diarrhea
Symptoms may begin a few days after the person has eaten contaminated food, but it may take as long as 30 days or more before the first signs and symptoms of infection begin.
If the listeria infection spreads to the nervous system, signs and symptoms may be:
1. Headache
2. Stiff neck
3. Confusion or changes in alertness
4. Loss of balance
5. Convulsions
Diagnosis:
Doctors in primary care should refer cases that are likely to have listeriosis based on the relevant food and medical history, to hospital for further evaluation and treatment if necessary.
Listeriosis is diagnosed by blood cultures (at least 2 sets prior to antibiotic initiation) or cultures of relevant medical samples including CSF.
Treatment:
Listeriosis is treatable with antibiotics if diagnosed early.
When infection occurs during pregnancy, prompt usage of antibiotics can often prevent infection of the fetus or newborn.
Patients from high risk groups presenting with medical signs of listeriosis should be treated with antibiotics immediately after proper cultures are taken, while waiting for laboratory confirmation.
The treatment of choice is normally IV ampicillin.
Cephalosporin is not advised in the treatment of listeriosis.

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Listeria Infection
Chapter 2 Causes
Chapter 3 Symptoms

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Mar 26, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370749140

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

Listeria Infection,

(Listeriosis)

A

Simple

Guide

To

The Condition,

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2018 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes Listeria Infection, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What The patient Need to Treat Listeria Infection)

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If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiolographical account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiolographical account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 amazon kindle books and 200 into Smashwords.com eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis