The UK Well being Safety Company (UKHSA) investigated Listeria infections and the UK Well being Safety Company (UKHSA) investigated seven outbreaks in 2024.
There have been 179 circumstances of Listeriosis in England and Wales in 2024, in comparison with 177 in 2023.
The newest knowledge present that, though Listeria can infect folks of all ages, it represents a larger threat for susceptible teams, with most circumstances in folks 80 years or extra. Of the 28 deaths amongst 142 circumstances that aren’t being pregnant, 12 have been 80 years outdated.
On the whole, the incidence of Listeriosis was decrease in males than in ladies with 79 males and 100 contaminated females. It was increased in age teams, from 60 to 69, 70 to 79 and 80 years or extra. Infections related to being pregnant represented 37 circumstances and a few resulted in a fetal loss of life or spontaneous abortion.
London had the best incidence fee with 35 circumstances, whereas East of England had the bottom. The Northeast had the least variety of circumstances with seven. Ten infections have been recorded in Wales. June and September have been the height months for the presentation of Listeriosis in 2024.
Vanessa Wong, a UKHSA advisor in gastrointestinal infections, mentioned: “Listeriosis is a uncommon an infection and most of the people solely expertise gentle signs of gastroenteritis that usually go inside a number of days with out the necessity for therapy.
“One of the best ways to forestall Listeriosis is to apply good meals hygiene and keep away from excessive -risk meals whether it is in a susceptible group. Meals that carry a larger threat of Listeria embrace: delicate cheeses, pate, smoked fish, cooled slices and different merchandise able to eat.”
Outbreak analysis
UKHSA investigated seven outbreaks in England and Wales, linked to merchandise that embrace smoked fish, chocolate and strawberry mousse, garlic sausage and pre -inated sandwiches. The biggest outbreak had 19 circumstances from 2020 to 2024 and traced to smoked fish. The supply of an outbreak with 9 circumstances from 2021 to 2024 remains to be unknown.
Within the fish outbreak, which additionally impacts Scotland, 4 folks have died, two of whom had Listeria monocytogenes listed as a reason for loss of life, together with different underlying well being circumstances. In December 2022, Lidl recalled Deluxe Oak Smoked Scottish Louch Trout and Lighthouse Bay Smoked Troutings, produced by St. James Smokehouse in Scotland. The merchandise exams discovered Listeria that coincided with the outbreak pressure. All optimistic samples for the outbreak have been inside the permitted restrict of 100 colon formation models per gram (CFU/g).
Threat mitigation measures included updates of NHS orientation to incorporate smoked fish as a excessive threat of listeriosis among the many susceptible inhabitants, in addition to warning labels in sure smoked fish merchandise to tell customers that may characterize a microbiological threat for susceptible teams.
5 folks grew to become unwell in two outbreaks linked to pre -started sandwiches. Contaminated chocolate or strawberry mousse led 5 folks getting sick and garlic sausage was behind three infections.
Within the Mousse outbreak, the sufferers have been recognized from Might to December 2024. Two lived in Yorkshire and Humber and one within the northwest and west of Midlands, plus one in Wales. The median age of the circumstances was 87 years and ranged between 68 and 89 years. Three folks died, together with one the place Listeria Monocytogenes was reported as the reason for loss of life.
The investigation discovered an affiliation with the cool Delight desserts provided to the NHS. Listeria Monocytogenes was detected twice in mixed scientific meals and insulation: a chocolate and vanilla mousse and a strawberry and vanilla mousse, each sampled in February 2025 in a NHS hospital within the southwest. Listeria ranges have been under the 100 CFU/G regulatory threshold.
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