The "Killer" in the Refrigerator: Listeria Monocytogenes is Not Afraid of Cold

The refrigerator is a good helper for preserving food. However, if you have elderly people, pregnant women, children or people with weak immunity at home, you should be very vigilant, because there may be a deadly killer hidden in your refrigerator! That is Listeria.

Understanding Listeria

Listeria was officially named by South African scholars in 1940. It is divided into 8 species, among which the one that can cause disease is Listeria monocytogenes, referred to as Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria monocytogenes mainly uses food as a vector and is one of the most deadly foodborne pathogens. It is widely distributed in nature and has a strong survival ability. Its traces can be found in rotten plants, soil, animal feces, sewage, etc., and can occur in any link from water source to food in the kitchen.

The foods related to Listeria mainly include milk and dairy products, meat, especially beef products, raw vegetables and salads, and seafood, etc. Once contaminated food is consumed, it may cause listeriosis.

The growth temperature range of Listeria is 2-42℃, and it is cold-loving and freeze-resistant. Therefore, Listeria has another name, called "refrigerator killer". Food stored in the refrigerator of a household refrigerator may be infected if you are not careful.

What are the symptoms of Listeria infection?

The initial symptoms of infection are similar to those of gastroenteritis, with pain, diarrhea, fever, nausea and vomiting. In the later stages, it can cause sepsis, meningitis, and sometimes endocarditis. If not treated in time, it often leads to death within 72 hours. Pregnant women may experience varying degrees of symptoms after infection, including miscarriage, premature birth, stillbirth or neonatal death. Even if the fetus survives, it is prone to pneumonia, sepsis, meningitis, etc., and may cause lifelong problems such as intellectual disability, epilepsy, paralysis, blindness, etc.

Listeria infection has two other characteristics. One is the long incubation period, which is generally 4 to 21 days, and can be as long as 3 months, so it is difficult to arouse people's vigilance; the other is "bullying the weak and fearing the strong". For people with normal immune function, Listeria usually only causes mild symptoms, similar to colds or gastroenteritis, which heal on their own without treatment; if it is a person with poor immune function, such as the elderly, pregnant women, children or patients with chronic diseases, the consequences are more serious.

The World Health Organization divides high-risk groups susceptible to listeriosis into six categories: pregnant women and fetuses, cancer patients who have not received chemotherapy, excessive drinkers and drug abusers, diabetics, AIDS patients and the elderly.

How to avoid Listeria infection

1. Refrigerated food should not be stored in the refrigerator for more than one week. It should be thoroughly heated and sterilized before consumption, and the temperature must reach 70℃ and last for more than 2 minutes, because Listeria is quickly killed at 60℃.

2. The refrigerator should not be overfilled. Pay attention to the temperature and storage time of frozen and refrigerated food. It is best to place a thermometer in the refrigerator and freezer respectively, and adjust the temperature to 4-10℃ and minus 20℃ respectively. Clean the refrigerator regularly and remove moldy and spoiled fruits, vegetables and leftover meals.

3. People with low immunity (such as the elderly, pregnant women, children, etc.) should eat less or no refrigerated food.

4. Before processing cooked food, the cutting board and knife should be thoroughly cleaned. The cutting board and knife used to process raw and cooked food should be completely separated to reduce the possibility of pathogens directly contaminating cooked food.

5. Do not drink raw milk that has not been pasteurized at high temperatures. It is not recommended to eat refrigerated salads or raw seafood, as well as unheated soft cheese, ham and other cooked foods (except canned foods).

Internal treatment with Chinese patent medicine

1. Wind-heat. Symptoms usually include fever, headache, sweating, cough, thirst, nasal congestion and turbid discharge, slight aversion to wind and cold, sore throat, thick yellow sputum, thin white tongue coating sometimes slightly yellow. Treatment should be pungent and cool to relieve the exterior, dispel wind and dissipate heat. It is recommended to take compound honeysuckle granules, compound bezoar anti-inflammatory capsules, Qingkailing oral liquid, Lingqiao Jiedu pills, antiviral oral liquid, Yinqiao Jiedu tablets, etc.

2. Wind-cold. Symptoms usually include nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, and a lot of thin sputum. In severe cases, there is aversion to cold and fever, limb aches, severe pain in the head and neck, sweating or no sweating, and aversion to wind and cold. The tongue coating is thin and white, and the pulse is floating and slow or floating and tight. Treatment should be pungent and warm to relieve the exterior, and to dispel wind and cold. It is recommended to take cinnamon twig mixture, Magui Ganmao pills, Wushicha granules, Ganmao Qingre granules, Fenghan Ganmao granules, Chuanxiongcha Tiao granules, Jingfang Baidu pills, etc.

3. Summer heat and dampness. Usually more common in summer, symptoms include sticky mouth, bitter mouth, loss of appetite, abdominal distension, heavy head, heavy body and drowsiness, loose stools, slippery pulse, thin white greasy tongue coating. Treatment should be to eliminate dampness and harmonize the middle, dispel heat and relieve the symptoms. You can choose Huoxiang Zhengqi Chinese medicine, Qingre Yinhua syrup, Wushicha granules, compound Xiangru water, Xiangju Ganmao granules, Qushu Lu, etc.

4. Physical weakness. Physical weakness, suffering from external symptoms caused by external evil. Treatment should be to dispel external evil and support the positive energy. Generally, yang-boosting drugs or tonic drugs are selected together with antipyretic drugs to form a preparation, which can solve the external symptoms without affecting the positive energy. You can take Shensu capsules, body deficiency cold mixture, Yupingfeng granules, ginseng Baidu capsules, etc. orally.

5. Both the exterior and interior are affected. The pathogens reside in the exterior and interior, with alternating cold and heat, with both exterior symptoms and interior heat. The symptoms are fever, fear of cold, dry throat and bitter mouth, nasal congestion and hoarseness, pain in limbs, sore throat, thirst, irritability, shortness of breath and cough, thick and yellow sputum, red urine and constipation, thin yellow or thin white fur, red tongue, and stringy pulse. It is advisable to treat both the exterior and interior, and relieve both the exterior and interior. You can take Ma Xing Gan Shi mixture, Fang Feng Tong Sheng pills or granules, Yin Chai granules, Xiao Chai Hu granules, Chai Hu oral liquid, etc.