Listeriosis

What it is

A rare bacterial infectious disease caused by the foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes, characterized by a febrile gastroenteritis, which is usually mild and self-limiting in otherwise healthy persons, but can progress to severe illness in at-risk groups like pregnant women, elderly people, immunocompromised people, and neonates. Complications include sepsis, meningitis, and encephalitis. Listeriosis during pregnancy usually occurs during the third trimester and may lead to preterm labor, miscarriage, stillbirth, or intrauterine infection of the unborn child.

Key facts

Prevalence

1-9 / 1 000 000 (annual incidence)

Age of onset

All ages

Inheritance

Not applicable

Classified as

Disease

Prevalence figures describe populations, not individuals, and are often estimates from a single study. Where the figure is an incidence or a birth prevalence, it says so.

Signs and symptoms

These ranges are how often a sign appears across everyone diagnosed, not a prediction for one person — most people have some of these and not others. Orphanet also records findings that are specifically absent in this disease; those are in the data but not listed here.

ICD-10 codes

Related health topics

Reached through the ICD-10 categories this disease is filed under, so these describe the broader group rather than this disease specifically.

Cross-references