Listeriosis outbreak concern

[dooooo]

Hi, I’m 5 weeks pregnant but due to irregular cycles didn’t realise I was pregnant until earlier this week. I had thought it would be very difficult to conceive so when my period was late I just assumed it was irregular (I’ve skipped periods when not pregnant previously). Before I realised I was pregnant I ate a lot of smoked salmon during my first few weeks of pregnancy and before that (as well as lots of other banned foods - cured meat, Brie, bagged salad, raw fish). I’m particularly worried about the smoked salmon given the listeria outbreak earlier this month (I probably ate it once or twice a week during my first few weeks of pregnancy).

My question is, how do I ask to be tested for listeria? I’m happy to go private but I haven’t found anything from googling apart from that you have to be referred if you have a fever which I don’t. My GP service isn’t great and it’s almost impossible to get an in person appointment or a telephone appointment with them that’s not two weeks away. Thanks in advance for the help x

If you don’t have any symptoms then try not to be concerned. The chances of you having listeria are very low, and bear in mind that everyone does and eats things they shouldn’t before finding out they’re pregnant, and even afterwards.
if you’re really anxious there are a small number of private self-refer places - Blood London looks like one.
If you genuinely ate something from a place linked to an outbreak, your gp may be willing to order a test though.
I know it’s an anxious time, but there are so many potential illnesses and conditions you could worry about - it will drive you mad if you get too hung up on it all. Obviously be careful from now on, but chances are everything is fine.

I work in a food testing microbiology laboratory. You'd be surprised how common Listeria is in all food products. When heated and cooked it dies. But obviously things liked smoked salmon and pre packed sandwiches aren't cooked. Healthy people eat something with Listeria all the time and don't get sick because their immune system fights it off. A pregnant person can eat it and be fine but it can affect the fetus and unfortunately lead to miscarriages. The woman will never know what caused the miscarriage as they themselves never got ill. Saying that, there's nothing you can do now and worrying isn't going to help anything. There is Listeria in lots of foods like I say. You can lower your risk going forward by heating your food before eating , avoid soft scoop ice cream etc. But there's no way to tell if you've eaten it and it's affected the baby. The best you can do is not worry about it, accept it as normal risk. Be safer in future. All the best.

I think you are overstating the risk, which could cause anxiety - yes a pregnant woman is more likely to contract it but the chances are still very low.
While we shouldn’t be complacent and just eat whatever we like once we know we are pregnant, it only affects a small number of pregnant ladies each year so I don’t think the OP should get stressed out about it.

That post makes me anxious I'm struggling with food atm and now thinking I can't eat even a sandwhich from Greggs 😕

Nhs doesn't warn against smoked salmon or bagged salad or prepacked sandwiches or a whole host of other things that people think are on the 'banned list'. Even sushi is ok if the fish was frozen first.

Oh actually nhs advice seems to be updated to say you should cook smoked fish now. Must be because of the listeria thing

Seem to have updated the sushi advice too; probably also due to the listeria issue. Still need to remember there have only been a small number of cases.

www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/foods-to-avoid/

I ate smoked salmon just before they changed the advice. Didn't get ill, baby is fine. Gutted though, I could really go for a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel right now.

Anyway these foods aren't 'banned' they're guidelines of foods that are best avoided as they do have some risk of illness. Just look at the NHS list and follow it from now on.

Wasn't trying to cause stress, just stating the facts. Whenever I say this people on mums net get upset with me but it doesn't make it any less true. As with all things in life you have to do your own risk assessment and decide for yourself what you are comfortable with /what the pros and cons are. Nothing is risk free.

@Yamaya but you may be flaring up people’s anxieties for no good reason.
Baby loss though listeria is not impossible but it’s very rare.
I’ll put it in to context - of the estimated 250,000 miscarriages each year in the uk, around 8 are linked to listeria - that’s 0.003% of miscarriages or 0.0009% of pregnancies.
So, yes, women should take care to avoid foods that could cause an issue, but they shouldn’t spend time worrying about being unwittingly affected as it is just so unlikely.

I never said to spend time worrying about it. I said you decide the risk you want to take. Anyway, hope I haven't caused any unnecessary anxiety.