Listeria monocytogenes: a rare cause of opportunistic infection in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and a new cause of meningitis in AIDS. A case report.

A forty-two year-old male homosexual with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) developed Listeria monocytogenes septicemia and meningitis. The gastrointestinal tract was the likely portal of entry. The patient was treated with intravenous ampicillin with complete and permanent resolution of his listerial infection. Although L. monocytogenes infection has been reported as an uncommon complications of AIDS, we are unaware of Listeria meningitis being previously reported in an AIDS patient. It is hoped that this case report will alert health care workers to the possibility of Listeria infection in AIDS patients, particularly since this infection responds well to readily-available antibiotic therapy. The microbiology, epidemiology, clinical, and neurologic aspects of listerial infection and general aspects of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome are discussed.