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Treatment of listeriosis
Last reviewed: 06.07.2025
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Treatment of listeriosis with glandular form is carried out on an outpatient basis, others are recommended hospitalization. Food industry workers and persons equivalent to them, as well as pregnant women, are subject to mandatory hospitalization. Bed rest is necessary for patients with nervous form, diet - for patients with gastroenteric form (table No. 4).
Antibacterial treatment of listeriosis should be prescribed. In the localized (glandular, gastroenteric) form, one of the following drugs is used: ampicillin (amoxicillin), co-trimoxazole, erythromycin, tetracycline (doxycycline) in average therapeutic doses orally.
In case of generalized infection (nervous, septic forms), listeriosis of newborns, a combination of ampicillin (adults 8-12 g / day; children 200 mg / kg per day) or amoxicillin + clavulanic acid intravenously (adults 1.2 g three times a day, children 30 mg / kg per day) with gentamicin (5 mg / kg per day) is recommended during the entire febrile period and for another 5-7 days, and in severe cases up to 2-3 weeks after the temperature returns to normal. If such treatment of listeriosis is ineffective, it is necessary to change the antibiotic taking into account the sensitivity of the listeria strain isolated from the patient. Second-line drugs are vancomycin and 3rd generation fluoroquinolones. Cephalosporins are ineffective for listeriosis. If necessary, infusion detoxification, as well as desensitizing and symptomatic therapy, and treatment of concomitant diseases are carried out.
Treatment of listeriosis in pregnant women is based on the prescription of ampicillin. A woman who has given birth to a child with listeriosis is given a course of antibacterial therapy with ampicillin or doxycycline in two cycles of 7-10 days with an interval of 1.5 months.
Clinical examination
- Women of childbearing age diagnosed with listeriosis until complete recovery and negative laboratory test results.
- Pregnant women from the moment of detection of the disease (carrier status) until delivery.
- Newborns with listeriosis until recovery and negative laboratory test results.
- Convalescents from nervous and septic forms of listeriosis until complete recovery.
[ 1 ], [ 2 ], [ 3 ], [ 4 ], [ 5 ], [ 6 ], [ 7 ]
How to prevent listeriosis?
Specific prevention of listeriosis in humans has not been developed; non-specific prevention includes control over food products, as provided for by relevant regulatory documents, and health education work among the population, especially in risk groups. Fast food products that have not undergone long-term heat treatment (e.g. hamburgers), as well as feta cheese, soft cheeses and raw milk should be excluded from the diet of pregnant women. To prevent listeriosis in newborns, it is necessary to examine women with a burdened obstetric and gynecological history, as well as those who have constant contact with animals. Women with identified disease, clinically manifest or asymptomatic, should undergo specific treatment for listeriosis. In obstetric hospitals, listeria monitoring is necessary to avoid nosocomial infection.