How long listeriosis symptoms last

Older Adults. People with Weakened Immunity. Related Links. Follow Listeria. Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate.

The symptoms vary with the infected person: Higher-risk people other than pregnant women : Symptoms can include fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions.

Pregnant women : Pregnant women typically experience only fever, and other non-specific symptoms like chills and headache. However, infection during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection of the newborn.

Healthy people. Healthy people rarely develop invasive listeriosis. The bacterium has been isolated from oysters, fish, crustaceans, ticks, and flies.

Some studies suggest that up to 10 percent of human gastrointestinal tracts contain L. In short, Listeria is a successful organism.

Its hardy characteristics, combined with its relative ubiquity make Listeria a serious, ongoing concern. However, in immunocompromised or other at-risk individuals, the infection may continue and eventually move to the brain. The Listeria bacterium is able to enter and survive within immune cells such as macrophages.

Within the cell, the bacteria can multiply and spread to neighboring cells, safe from the immune system. This ability to live within human cells makes it unusual, dangerous, and very difficult to treat. Gut bacteria receive a great deal of attention, but scientists are beginning to invest more time in studying gut viruses. A new study finds fresh…. In this Special Feature, we examine how and why financial precarity is often linked with prolonged exposure to toxic chemicals that have ill effects….

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Healthy people rarely become ill from listeria infection, but the disease can be fatal to unborn babies, newborns and people with weakened immune systems. Prompt antibiotic treatment can help curb the effects of listeria infection. Listeria bacteria can survive refrigeration and even freezing. So people who are at higher risk of serious infections should avoid eating the types of food most likely to contain listeria bacteria.

Symptoms might begin a few days after you've eaten contaminated food, but it can take 30 days or more before the first signs and symptoms of infection begin. During pregnancy, a listeria infection is likely to cause only mild signs and symptoms in the mother.

The consequences for the baby, however, can be devastating — the baby can die in the womb or have a life-threatening infection within a few days of being born.

If you've eaten a food that's been recalled because of a listeria outbreak, watch for signs or symptoms of illness. If you have a fever, muscle aches, nausea or diarrhea, contact your doctor. The same goes for illness after eating a potentially contaminated product, such as foods made with unpasteurized milk or poorly heated hot dogs or deli meats.