Listeria IgG
Listeriosis (synonyms: listerellosis, nevrellosis, granulomatosis of newborns, Tigris River disease) is an infectious disease caused by Listeria monocytogenes bacteria. Listeriosis is transmitted to humans from sick animals: mainly rodents, but transmission from rabbits, pigs, horses, cows, chickens, or ducks is possible. The way of transmission of infection is by eating foods contaminated with bacteria. Intrauterine transmission of listeriosis from a pregnant woman to a fetus has been proven. The disease occurs in the form of severe blood poisoning (sepsis) with damage to the central nervous system, liver, spleen, and lymph nodes; or in an erased chronic form. The incubation period is 2-4 weeks.
There are seven clinical forms of listeriosis:
- anginous-septic;
- ocular;
- glandular;
- with predominant brain damage;
- typhoid-like;
- listeriosis of pregnant women;
- listeriosis of newborns.
In this regard, the diagnosis of the disease is difficult due to the variety of clinical manifestations. "The gold standard" of diagnosis is considered to be isolation from the microbe on a special medium. However, the completion time for such a test is about a week. There is an alternative method, although it does not give 100% accuracy, but it allows you to detect the disease within just 2 days, which makes it possible to start treatment as early as possible!
The test "IgG determination for Listeria monocytogenes" refers to the serological diagnosis of infections. The test material is blood, in which antibodies to the pathogen are detected. Antibodies are components of the body's immune system that are produced to destroy a particular foreign protein-antigen. In this case, the antigen is listeria. There are several types of antibodies: IgA, IgD, IgE, IgG, and IgM. However, the immune system cannot always cope with listeriosis, even with very high concentrations of antibodies. Each of these antibodies has its own function and its own period of occurrence. IgG is produced 15-20 days after infection, just at the end of the incubation period. The detection of IgG indicates prolonged contact of the body with the pathogen.