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Listeria, Listeriosis and Miscarriage

The following information on Listeria, listeriosis and miscarriage is provided by the law firm of Pritzker | Ruohonen, a leading food safety litigation law firm.  The firm has successfully represented women who suffered miscarriages after contracting Listeria infections (listeriosis).  Contact the firm to learn more about these cases and for a free consultation regarding your case.  To contact the firm, please call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900 or submit the firm’s free case consultation form.

Listeria Listeriosis contracted by a pregnant woman can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth and severe illness (often leading to death) in a newborn.  It is usually infection with Listeria in the first trimester of pregnancy that leads to miscarriage. 

According to the CDC, pregnant women are about 20 times more likely than other healthy adults to get listeriosis.  (Read about Listeria and pregnancy.) In the past, it was thought that the reason for this was hormonal changes during pregnancy that affected the mother’s immune system, making her more susceptible to listeriosis.

Recent studies conducted by researchers at Berkeley now point to the placenta as playing a roll in the increased risk for listeriosis in pregnant women: 

Listeria monocytogenes (the bacteria that causes listeriosis) can invade the placenta, where - protected from the body's immune system - they proliferate rapidly before pouring out to infect
organs such as the liver and spleen. The illness they cause, listeriosis, often results in miscarriage or infection of the unborn baby.

The study is the first to trace such a pathway of infection, and it dashes the widely-held assumption that immune-system changes during pregnancy are to blame for elevated Listeria infection rates.

"The reason the mother is more susceptible is not necessarily because her immune system is compromised, but because the bacteria that got into her placenta are infecting her," said Anna Bakardjiev, the study's lead author and a postdoctoral researcher with Daniel Portnoy, professor of biochemistry and molecular
biology at UC Berkeley. "The miscarriages that result from these infections may be a natural defense mechanism to dispel this
source of infection."

If you have suffered a miscarriage after eating food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes or have questions about listeriosis and miscarriage, please contact our law firm for a free consultation with Fred Pritzker.  He has gained a national reputation and has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, other publications and television stations.  In recognition of his accomplishments, he has been named a “Super Lawyer” by Law & Politics magazine.  He is also listed in The Best Lawyers in America.


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