The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is alerting pregnant women about the risks of listeriosis, a foodborne disease that can severely affect a pregnant women and her unborn child.
Listeria can affect all races and ethnic groups, but pregnant women are 10 times more likely than other healthy adults to get listeriosis due to hormonal changes that affect the immune system during pregnancy. Pregnant Hispanic women are about 24 times more likely than the general population to get listeriosis. A pregnant mother may pass Listeria onto her unborn baby without even knowing it because she doesn’t feel sick at all, yet the disease can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature labor, the delivery of a low birthweight infant, a wide range of health problems for a newborn, or even infant death.
To view the multimedia release go to:
https://www.multivu.com/players/English/7953451-fda-listeriosis-prevention-pregnant-women/
