Listeria monocytogenes Meningitis in Patients with an Elderly Diabetic: Literature Review and A Case Report
Thualfakar Hayder Hasan
Faculty of Medical Science, Jabir Ibn Hayyan University for Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Al-Najaf, Iraq.
Maha Mashrq AlBayati
Department of Pathological Analyses, Faculty of Science, University of Kufa, Iraq.
Wurood kadhim Abed *
Faculty of Medical Science, Jabir Ibn Hayyan University for Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Al-Najaf, Iraq.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Background: Listeria monocytogenes is a Gram positive, facultative intracellular pathogen that may cause severe invasive infections such as meningitis and meningoencephalitis especially in elderly or immunocompromised patients.
Case Summary: This case report offers the presentation of a 71-year-old male patient with a history of diabetes mellitus type 2 with a fever, confusion, and neck stiffness and sent to the hospital with the diagnosis of Listeria meningitis in the absence of apparent foodborne exposure.
Aim: The case report focuses on the diagnosis issues of the atypical bacterial meningitis, the antimicrobial treatment, and the need to focus on the initial clinical suspicion in the risk population.
Conclusion: The timely clinical suspicion, attentive attitude to Gram stains, timely microbiological confirmation, and the immediate initiation of ampicillin-based treatment are vital in the survival.
Keywords: Antimicrobial resistance, case report, Listeria monocytogenes, meningitis, diabetes mellitus