Zhang ZY, Zhang XA, Chen Q, Wang JY, Li Y, Wei ZY, Wang ZC. Listeria monocytogenes bacteremia in a centenarian and pathogen traceability: A case report. World J Clin Cases 2021; 9(18): 4873-4880 [PMID: 34222461 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i18.4873]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Zhong-Ying Zhang, PhD, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Geriatric Medicine, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 45 Changchun Street, Beijing 100053, China. univadiszzy@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Infectious Diseases
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Zhong-Ying Zhang, Jie-Yu Wang, Yun Li, Zhan-Yun Wei, Zi-Chen Wang, Department of Geriatric Medicine, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China
Xiao-Ai Zhang, Qian Chen, Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Institute for Nutrition and Food Hygiene, Beijing 100053, China
Xiao-Ai Zhang, Qian Chen, Research Centre for Preventive Medicine of Beijing, Beijing 100053, China
Author contributions: Zhang ZY was the patient’s physician, collected the patient’s clinical data, reviewed the literature, and drafted the manuscript; Zhang XA and Chen Q performed the pathogen analyses of Listeria monocytogenes and reviewed the literature; Wang JY, Li Y, Wei ZY, and Wang ZC collected the patient’s clinical data, reviewed the literature, and contributed to the manuscript drafting and revisions; All authors issued final approval for the version to be submitted.
Supported byTeaching Fund of Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, China, No. 2018XWJXGG-29.
Informed consent statement: Consent was obtained from relatives of the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Zhong-Ying Zhang, PhD, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Geriatric Medicine, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 45 Changchun Street, Beijing 100053, China. univadiszzy@163.com
Received: March 11, 2021 Peer-review started: March 11, 2021 First decision: March 25, 2021 Revised: April 6, 2021 Accepted: April 28, 2021 Article in press: April 28, 2021 Published online: June 26, 2021 Processing time: 92 Days and 1.7 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Early diagnosis and appropriate antibiotic treatment are important to survival of Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) bacteremia. Penicillin tends to be the most commonly used antibiotic. However, there are limited data on antibiotic use in elderly patients with serious complications. We describe the clinical presentation, antibiotic therapy, and traceability of L. monocytogenes in a centenarian with a history of eating frozen food.
CASE SUMMARY
A 102-year-old man suffered from high fever with chill after hematochezia. Tentative diagnoses were lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage and localized peritonitis. Meropenem and ornidazole were the empirical therapy. The patient did not respond and developed multiple system dysfunction even after teicoplanin was added to the therapy. L. monocytogenes was identified from blood cultures on day 5 of admission. The patient had a history of consuming frozen dumplings. Meropenem/ornidazole/teicoplanin were replaced with meropenem/linezolid. The patient gradually became afebrile. He received meropenem/linezolid for 10 d, and piperacillin/tazobactam was applied as step-down treatment for 2 wk with good clinical results. There was no sign of relapse during follow-up after discharge. L. monocytogenes isolates from the patient and frozen dumplings belonged to different serotypes and sequence types (STs): 1/2b and ST5 from the patient and 1/2c and ST9 from the dumplings.
CONCLUSION
More awareness of listeriosis should be raised. Linezolid might be an option for listeriosis in elderly people with serious complications.
Core Tip: Appropriate antibiotic treatment is important to survival of Listeria monocytogenes bacteremia. Penicillin tends to be the most commonly used antibiotic. However, there are limited data on antibiotic use in elderly patients with serious complications. Linezolid might be valuable for treatment of the L. monocytogenes bacteremia. Geriatricians should be suspicious of listeriosis when patients do not respond to broad-spectrum antibiotics, and when patients have a history of frozen food consumption. Healthy eating habits and food processing methods should be prioritized in elderly people.
