Ewha Med J.  2020 Oct;43(4):60-64. 10.12771/emj.2020.43.4.60.

Listeriosis in a Pregnant Woman and a Neonate

• Yun HY
• Kim J
• Cho SJ
• Park EA
• Kim YJ
• Park S

• KMID: 2507780
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.12771/emj.2020.43.4.60

Abstract

Listeriosis is an infectious disease caused by Listeria monocytogenes. It’s rare in healthy adults, it could be fatal in pregnant women. Listeriosis in pregnant women causes fever and flu-like symptoms, but could lead to fatal consequences. However, because there are few cases of listeriosis reported in Korea, the symptoms are ambiguous and the standard diagnostic tool has yet to be determined, making accurate diagnosis difficult. We present a case of a 35-year-old pregnant woman who had fever and headache. Initially, we didn’t find the cause of fever. However, after delivery, L. monocytogenes was detected in the neonatal gastric aspirate culture, blood cultures. The placenta and amniotic membrane showed acute suppurative inflammation and chorioamnionitis. The mother recovered after antibiotic treatment and delivery, but in the case of the newborn baby, the patient died despite treatment. We report a case of listeriosis in a pregnant woman and a neonate with literature review.

Keyword

Listeriosis; Listeria monocytogenes; Pregnant women

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Placental parenchyma and microscopic findings (H&E, ×100). The cut surface of the placenta shows multiple, variable-sized, yellowish nodules in placenta parenchyme. Microscopic findings show intervillous abscesses with large numbers of neutrophils.

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  Fig. 2 Gram and Warthin-Starry stain of placental tissue (×400). Gram and Warthin-Starry stain of placental tissue shows rod-shaped bacilli. (A) Gram stain. (B) Warthin-Starry stain.

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  Fig. 3 Microscopic amniotic membrane findings (H&E, ×200). Microscopic examination revealed acute and chronic chorioamnionitis.

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