Infection and Drug Resistance (Oct 2021)
Clinical and Laboratory Characteristics of Patients infected by Listeria monocytogenes at a Tertiary Hospital in Hefei City, China
Abstract
Cuixiao Shi,1 Dongmei Lv,1 Kai Zhou,1 Tengchuan Jin,2 Gang Wang,3 Bo Wang,1 Yajuan Li,1 Yuanhong Xu1 1Department of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, People’s Republic of China; 2Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230027, People’s Republic of China; 3The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230601, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Yuanhong Xu; Yajuan LiDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, 218 Jixi Road, Hefei, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail [email protected]; [email protected]: Human listeriosis is a severe foodborne infection caused by Listeria monocytogenes and the data of patients with this infection are largely limited for the Hefei population.Purpose: This is a retrospective study that evaluated the clinical and laboratory data of patients with listeriosis at a tertiary hospital in Hefei City.Patients and Methods: A total of 24 listeriosis patients were admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from January 2003 to July 2021. Data from all patients were collected from the hospital’s electronic medical records.Results: The most common symptom of all patients was fever (91.7%), followed by altered consciousness (50.0%), rashes (45.8%), respiratory distress symptoms (37.5%), nuchal rigidity (29.2%), and headaches (20.8%). Laboratory results also indicated elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) (79.1%), hypoproteinemia (75.0%), anemia (62.5%), leukocytosis (45.8%), and neutrophilia (45.8%). The mean value of 5.1 μg/mL (SD, 3.8) for D‐dimer (D‐D) was significantly higher than the normal value ((0.00– 0.50) μg/mL), while both altered consciousness (6 vs 4, P = 0.034) and headaches (4 vs 1, P = 0.036) occurred more frequently in the neurolisteriosis group compared with the bacteremia one. Additionally, the mean maximal body temperature (°C) (40.5 ± 0.7) as well as white blood cell (WBC) (15.3 vs 7.5 × 109/L, P = 0.014) and neutrophil (NEUT#) (13.2 vs 6.1 × 109/L, P = 0.026) counts of neurolisteriosis patients were higher than those of bacteremia (39.4 ± 0.4) (P = 0.001). Of all patients, four (50%) from the maternal-neonatal group remained uncured.Conclusion: Listeriosis is a rare disease with extremely variable clinical characteristics in Hefei City. Our data indicated that unexplained fever, altered consciousness, hypoproteinemia, anemia, elevated CRP and DD should be considered to assist diagnosis of listeriosis for early treatment interventions.Keywords: Listeria monocytogenes, listeriosis, clinical and laboratory characteristics
