Listeria monocytogenes infections

Abstract

Listeria monocytogenes has been recognized as a human pathogen since the turn of the nineteenth century. Investigations of listeriosis epidemics in North America and Europe over the past 25 years have confirmed a long-held suspicion that listeriosis is a foodborne disease.(1-7) L. monocytogenes infections resulting in invasive disease occur particularly often in the immunocompromised host, specifically those in whom the T-helper cell-mononuclear phagocyte arm of the immune defense system is altered. Severe disease also occurs in the very young and in older persons as well as in patients with neoplastic disease and in recipients of organ transplants. Alcoholism, cirrhosis, and diabetes mellitus are also frequently associated risk factors, as are adrenocorticosteroid therapy for underlying disorders such as collagen vascular disease or inflammatory bowel disease and treatment of certain chronic diseases with tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha)-neutralizing agents. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009.