Listeria monocytogenes is a food-borne pathogen, most often associated with the consumption of contaminated foodstuffs, such as soft cheese and processed meat products. The standard microbiological ...detection methods require 4–7 days for the detection of the pathogen. The
L. monocytogenes detection system described consists in a rapid and cost-effective PCR protocol, directly performed on pre-enrichment broth media, detecting viable pathogens and reducing the whole detection time to approximately 36
h, with good sensitivity, specificity and detection limit, allowing to detect
L. monocytogenes in any kind of food.
This report describes a case of meningitis caused by Listeria monocytogenes in a stem cell transplant recipient on immunosuppressive therapy for cutaneous chronic graft-versus host disease. A ...59-year-old woman had undergone allogeneic stem cell transplantation (from a matched unrelated donor) 13 months previously for chronic lymphocytic leukemia. She was on regular hematologic follow-up. Though her previous malignancy has been in remission, she was immunosuppressed due to the pharmacological treatment. We describe a meningitis caused by a typical food-borne pathogen, dangerous in patients with impaired cell-mediated immunity. Moreover the bacterium had a multidrug resistance, a rare characteristic in clinical listeriosis. Rapid diagnosis and treatment are key factors in these cases. We chose ampicillin and rifampicin that allowed a complete resolution of the clinical manifestations.
