Involvement of Listeria monocytogenes in the abortive disease

Listeria monocytogenes, an intracellular facultative germ that causes the invasion, sometimes fatal, in susceptible hosts is a food borne pathogen with ubiquitary spread that has generated a public health problem for such risk groups as: pregnant women, foetuses, new borns. 504 women with abortive disease were serologically investigated in 1999 for serotype 1a circulating in Romania. The most affected age group proved to be that in the range of 20-30 yrs: 378 (75%) cases. 107 (21.23%) female patients had the diagnostic titer (> or = 1/320): among these, 38 (7.53%) had miscarriages in the IVth-VIIIth month and 18 (3.57%) gave birth to dead foetuses; during pregnancy, 10 (1.98%) female patients received treatment with Ampicillin and 2 (0.39%) treatment with Erythromycin. In the age group > 31 yrs, the 1/320 titer was noticed in 21 (4.16%) female patients but among these only 4 (0.79%) had a history of miscarriage in the final pregnancy months; they were administered Ampicillin during pregnancy. Although there is no clear-cut evidence, our results point to the conclusion that these female patients were contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.