Paranoid.. Listeria infection...

Ok, i know i shouldn't have, but i did... yesterday we had a picnic get together with a few of my girlfriends. we had BBQ charcoal chickens, bread rolls, fresh fruit, cakes etc, plus 2 Coles pre-prepared platters. 1 platter was a salads variety with tabouli, pasta, coleslaw and potato salad and the other platter was continental with cheeses, mushrooms, sundried tomato, olives etc. Out of the food there I had the BBQ chicks, bread rolls and the coleslaw, potato salad, some tabouli, the sundried tomatos and a bit of the mushroom. I feel pretty bad now coz i realised that the chicken wasn't fully hot by the time we got to eating it and its recommended to avoid the pre-made salads because of the risk of Listeria. I don't feel sick but im soooo paranoid that i could have gotten infected! do you girls think i should be worried?? The symptoms are suppose to be mild-flu like symptoms, fever, chills, muscle aches & pains, headaches, stiff neck and sometimes diahorrea and vomiting which can start from day 1 or through a 90 day period after exposure??? I dont feel any of them, but i got even more paranoid when i looked up the symptoms because last month i got sick twice (after a 1 week interval between the two episodes) with what i think was the flu! it started off as a bad sore throat, sniffles, cough, then muscle aches and possibly fever (i didnt check temp. but i was pretty heated up) in the night. lasted about 2weeks. I told my OB and she didnt think anything of it. Well she didnt really ask any questions about my symptoms really... she just said to drink plenty of fluids etc coz cant really take much during pregnancy. I didnt suspect Listeria though... could that have been Listeria related?? Ive been pretty good with eating the right stuff but have been really relaxed lately which i hate myself for doing. I'm 25 weeks on wednesday. Last week i had a Maccas soft serve which is apparently also risky of Listeria... pls tell me im just being too paranoid??!

P.S. also, is it bad to have your small pet dog sleep in the same room as you or be inside the house??

thanks all..

Hi Peach Blossom,

I don't think you've got listeria, but you should be more careful about what foods you eat when you're pregnant. On the day I found out I was pregnant I had a massive cold ( with flu like symptoms ) and then 2 weeks later I had another one. Doc told me that my immune system was really down, and I was more likely to catch a cold when pregnant.

It's also good to stay away from pets if you can, and if you have them, wash your hands after you've been in contact with them.

Remember avoid any processed meats and especially no liver pate etc and no soft sheeses, a big no no ! Also, avoid eating eggs that haven't been cooked properly.

That's all I can tell you from what the doc said to me and the pregnancy books I've read.

Beata.

Peach Blossom - the actually chances of you being affected are pretty slim - that being said just be a little more careful in the future :)

Also at 24 weeks I'm pretty sure you'd be ok - after all, all the development is finished prior to 12weeks. but if you start to feel sick go straight to the doc and get it checked out!

Pet's are fine in the house just make sure you wash your hands really thoroughly if you come into contact with any faeces.

I think you'll be OK.

I ate all sorts of things I shouldn't have whilst pregnant with my two but I now work in a well known deli and would recommend to any pregnant woman that you do not eat anything from a deli section.

From experience, safe food handling is not adhered to.

I ate all sorts of things too - if you're unsure next time, just microwave your chicken super hot first. I think all Australian cheese has to be pasteurised first anyway, so if you eat that fresh it might be alright...I think the issue is, that some things are really ambiguous - some foods are okay fresh, but not as safe if they've been left out, or stored, and it's just easier to create a blanket rule about that food saying to avoid it. Soft serve, for example, is considered risky because we can't guarantee that the soft serve machine has been properly cleaned and maintained. The actual food itself isn't bad.

I think I read somewhere that you're more likely to be hit by a car than contract listeria? Not sure of my source there. So...I guess just be aware of what's healthy to eat, go get normal ice-cream instead of soft serve...and be careful when crossing the road! :D

No point beating yourself up if you do eat something not recommended though. What's done is done.
It might be worth avoiding the borderline foods just for your peace of mind though.

thanks for all your responses!! i do hope it will be ok, but i will DEFINATELY be more careful with the foods i choose to eat... better to be safe than sorry. ill have to start thinking with my head rather than my stomach next time hehehe i kinda only laxed a bit coz im close to 6 months already. bad idea! as for our doggie, he is too cute to resist, but im pretty good at washing my hands after handling him. im more worried about inhaling his fur coz he tends to shed quite a bit. we are giving him till end of this month until our bedroom and upstairs rumpus area will be sectioned off as a dog free zone in prep for the bubba. cheers all..

The only pet-related danger in pregnancy that I'm aware of is toxiplasmosis (sp?) that can reside in kitty litter, so get someone else to change the cat's tray and you'll be fine.

Dogs are no danger to pregnant women. Even their saliva has much less bacteria in it than human saliva (and think of that next time you kiss DH love or DW...).

Our dog sleeps in the bedroom with us and will continue to do so when baby arrives. Her presence is no problem and no danger to me in my pregnancy, but we have stopped allowing her up on the bed, in preparation for the baby, as we don't want her jumping up beside sleeping baby during the daytime when baby is here.

It is wise to make any changes to your dog's routine months before baby arrives, so that they don't associate the change with the baby. The last thing you want to do is make the dog jealous and make them see the baby as a competitor. That can be dangerous to baby and dog both (let's face it, a dog that bites a baby is likely to end up taken to the vet and killed - not fair on the dog, who is only behaving naturally). We have already made the changes to the dog's rules (no dogs on beds, mostly - in other respects she is very well behaved already), and we are planning to make sure we pay her lots of attention, even when baby arrives, and to do all the good things in life (dinner, walks, doggy playtime) in the baby's presence, so that she associates the baby with good things not bad things. We will never make her stay out of the room where we and the baby are, as that would be ostracizing her from the "pack" and could cause jealousy. If we were planning to keep dog out of the nursery (if we had a nursery), I would definitely install a barrier (child fence thingy) that she could see through, so she could sit in the doorway and look in, being close to the action, if not exactly in the room.

Of course you're going to need different strategies depending on the size and temperament of your dog. It's worth doing some reading on ahead of time - lots of articles out there about it, as well as consulting some good dog behaviour books, so you can work out what is going to change for your dog and implement the changes well before the baby comes.

I was amused to read the other day that our baby, having heard the dog barking in utero, probably won't be bothered by that noise at all :) Some visiting babies have been upset by the welcoming barks, but apparently ours is already used to it - funny idea!

Peach Blossom, I am sure you are fine :). Most women I know didnt cut out anything except for alcohol and brie and all their babies are fine. The chance of getting listeria is sooo slim - even my doctir calls it the lysteria hysteria! However my doc also said that slim though the possibility of contracing it may be, its very serious indeed if you do get it. Like you, I've been a little slack but I am going to try and be better now. Since I dont even feel pregnant half the time I forget about the diet rules! Today for example I made a big bowl of chocolate mousse (which is made with raw eggs) and didnt realise until I was almost done that I couldnt eat it! Its going to be torture watching DH work his way through that! Oh well - I won't forget again.

Good luck

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would recommend to any pregnant woman that you do not eat anything from a deli section.

From experience, safe food handling is not adhered to.

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I second that! Former Deli employee here too ;) What I see workers in delis do worries me enough to not risk it at all.