Bacterial Meningitis Exposure During Pregnancy

Bacterial meningitis exposure during pregnancy is dangerous to both mother and baby.

At an Ohio hospital maternity ward, two healthy pregnant women were both infected with bacterial meningitis within two weeks of each other. They did not know each other and they were not in the same room. They both received spinal anesthesia. One woman died after childbirth leaving behind a healthy newborn, a toddler, and a husband. Of course, the hospital started investigation.

Another way pregnant women can be susceptible to bacterial meningitis exposure is from contaminated foods that cause listeria or listeriosis. Pregnant women have weakened immune systems that are considered high risk. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, and sometimes nausea or diarrhea. If infection spreads to the nervous system, symptoms such as headache and stiff neck can occur. Infected pregnant women may experience only a mild, flu like illness; however, infections during pregnancy can lead to more serious problems for the fetus.

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Listeria can be found in deli meats. Listeria has the ability to cross the placenta and may infect the baby leading to infection or blood poisoning, which may be life-threatening. Other foods which may be contaminated with Listeria are smoked seafood, jerky, unpasteurized milk, pâté, and imported soft cheeses like feta, gorgonzola, queso blanco, and brie.

Listeria may cause bacterial meningitis.

When contaminated food is eaten, listeria bacteria channels through the wall of the intestine and spreads by way of the bloodstream to other organs, particularly the brain and placenta of pregnant women. Direct, person-to-person transmission is unlikely, except from mother to baby.

Has a beloved mother-to-be suffered bacterial meningitis from food poisoning or while in the hospital, pre delivery?

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