[Human listeriosis in the Trieste area]

This report concerns 3 cases of human listeriosis occurred in the area of Trieste between 1974-1979. Two newborns with a listeric early disease were observed in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. One child was colonized during the delivery from the infected vaginal mucosa of the mother; no signs of sepsis nor systemic involvement was observed. In the second case a bacteremia was documented with clinical signs of sepsis, and in spite of negative cultures of the mother, an intra-uterine infection was hypothesized. During an investigation carried out in 1977 on prevalence of listeric infection in pregnant women of Trieste, 127 vaginal and rectal swabs were examined and one subject (0.8%) was found harbouring a strain of Listeria monocytogenes in the vaginal secretions. Some bacteriological and epidemiological topics on human listeriosis are discussed.