Serodiagnosis of listeriosis among pregnant women and neonates using a rapid serological assay Singaravelu Balamuruganvelu1,5, Reddy V. Sreenivasalu2, Babu Geethavani3,*, Harish PV4 1Research Scholar, Bharath University, BIHER, Chennai, India 2Professsor, Bharath University, BIHER, Chennai, India 3Lecturer, Department of Microbiology, DMWIMS, Wayanad, Kerala 4Microbiologist, Department of Laboratory medicine, DMWIMS, Wayanad, Kerala 5Professsor DM, Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad *Corresponding author: Geethavani Babu, DM Wayanad institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad. No.6, Avaiyar street Charles nagar, Pattabiram, Chennai-72, India. 9655251917, E-mail: gee192@gmail.com
Online published on 9 January, 2019. Abstract Background Listeriosis a serious food-borne illness, most often affects pregnant women, the unborn, newborns and the immunocompromised. Infection in pregnant women results in intrauterine infection, preterm labor, spontaneous abortion, still birth and neonatal meningitis/sepsis leading to high morbidity and mortality. The present study aimed to detect human listeria antibody in pregnant women and neonates visiting Government general hospital, Puducherry, India using a rapid serological assay (ELISA). Study Design A cross sectional study. Method A total of 269 samples which includes 125 serum samples from pregnant women, 34 serum samples from women with bad obstetric history, 91 serum samples from neonates and 19 CSF samples from neonates collected were tested for Human Listeria Antibody IgM (LST-IgM) ELISA. Results Out of 269 cases tested 51 (19.0%) were found positive for listeria antibody. Of the 125 pregnant women tested 43 (34.4%) were seropositive, Among the 34 women with bad obstetric history 7 (20.6%) and of the 110 neonatal cases only 1(0.93%) case showed seropositive for Listeria antibody.16/34 (47.1%) of pregnant women in first trimester, 5/18(27.8%) women with preterm labor were reported seropositive for Listeria.35/51 (68.6%) of seropositive cases had only fever. Conclusion The overall seropositivity of Listeriosis in pregnant women and neonates was to the tune of 19.0%. To conclude any pregnant women with a fever or flu like symptoms with or without gastrointestinal symptoms needs to be diagnosed for Listeriosis. Moreover Listeriosis being a foodborne infection, information regarding avoidance of certain foods in Pregnancy can be incorporated into formal antenatal education in addition pregnant women need to be cautioned regarding the feto-maternal consequences of Listeriosis infection in pregnancy. Top Keywords Seroprevalence, Listeria, Pregnancy, newborns. Top |