Recurrent Listeria monocytogenes bacteraemia in a liver transplant patient

Abstract

We report a case of a recurrent Listeria monocytogenes bacteraemia in a 46 year-old liver transplant patient. Serotyping revealed that the two episodes of bacteraemia were caused by different strains. The possibility of a recrudescence of a persisting infection was rejected. We concluded that the recurrent bacteraemia in this predisposed patient was due to re-infection, and that antibiotic treatment (amoxicillin plus an aminoglycoside) resulted in a complete eradication of the infective microorganism. Therefore long-term suppressive antibiotic treatment was not indicated. The source of these L. monocytogenes infections was not found.