There are many homes that fall prey to a type of bacteria called Listeria monocytogenes, which causes an illness called listeriosis. This microorganism may not sound very familiar to us, but our immune systems sure are. In fact, we can encounter this type of bacteria and we won’t even notice it. That’s because it only affects people who are immunocompromised, or those whose immune systems are not be at their best or are in a sensitive condition. Examples of immunocompromised individuals are pregnant women, cancer patients, infants and basically anyone who is battling some form of serious disease. This doesn’t mean, however that because we are well, we can be reckless about the possibility of contracting listeriosis. We all need to be careful becasue we’ll never know when we may be most at risk.

Listeriosis is a disease we can get from eating meat and dairy products, such as hotdogs, cheeses and raw meat. Luckily, the bacteria can be killed by heating. This means, you should never ever eat these foods unless you can reheat them. And they have to be steaming hot before you can put them in your mouth. It is also wise not to eat unpasteurized milk or food products made from it. Processed foods made from meat can also be carriers of the bacteria. Instead of eating soft cheeses, you can go for hard ones which are safer.

When preparing your food in the kitchen, it’s important to clean everything you’ve used when handling foods that can be carriers of Listeria monocytogenes. Make sure you wash everything with soap, including the chopping board and other utensils you may have used. A very important thing to remember is to separate used utensils from those you’ve washed. When you put them together, the clean ones could be easily contaminated. Of course, once you’ve cleaned everything, including your sink, always make it a point to wash your hands thoroughly so you can avoid contaminating everything you touch after preparing you food.

Listeriosis can come with very common flu-like symptoms and they are generally harmless. However, for immunocompromised people, the disease can affect the central nervous system and manifest through symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, loss of balance and even convulsions. A pregnant woman may not experience any serious symptoms, but the disease can still be passed on to the fetus through the placenta and cause miscarriage, still birth or any other complications. Therefore, to be complete protected against the disease, the right precautions must be observed and the risk of infection should never be taken for granted.

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