Want to give something sweet this Christmas as an added treat? Well, you may want to reconsider. While cookies and cakes may be safe, one Autumn treat may carry along with it a bad tiding, and a serious infection as well. Though caramel apples are often an Autumn/Winter treat, health officials with the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are saying that they may be the link between a multi-state Listeria outbreak that has to date led to more than four deaths, and dozens of hospitalizations. Spanning the states of Texas, Arizona and Minnesota, the CDC confirms that the bacterial infections came after ingestion of pre-packaged caramel apples, and now the patients are facing life-threatening complications.
Caused by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, Listeriosis or Listeria is a disease that can cause gastrointestinal distress and flu-like symptoms in individuals, with a particular ability for harming people whose immune systems are stressed or compromised, including the elderly and pregnant women. In a press release issued Friday morning, Dec. 19, the CDC warned all consumers to avoid prepackaged caramel apples while they investigate the outbreak, and source the cause of the infection in a joint collaboration alongside the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and state health organizations.
Currently the multi-state infection seems rather limited to only individuals that consumed pre-packaged caramel apples, but also those whose bodies were more susceptible to the bacterial pathogen. Of the currently 28 infected patients, nine cases involve newborn infants or pregnant women, and three others are children between the ages of 5 and 15. Though their symptoms remain stable at the moment, and mild for the most part, doctors overseeing the care of these patients are cautious because of the possibility of quick escalation of the bacteria's behavior. Already leading to four deaths in the current outbreak, in severe cases of Listeriosis individuals may develop swelling of the brain (encephalitis) or bacterial meningitis, which inflames the coverings of the spinal cord and the brainstem.
Because of the mutations the bacterial pathogen has seen over the years, researchers discuss the particular difficulties in dealing with the Listeriosis outbreak, which can have incubation periods anywhere from 3 to 70 days. Infectious disease expert from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Dr. William Schaffner says that consumers should err on the side of caution since the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes is particularly difficult to control, and its growth is not even inhibited by refrigeration. So consumers have no way of knowing whether or not a caramel apple is infected until it is too late.
"We can anticipate that more illnesses will occur over time" Schaffner says. "Even [if] the product is removed from the market, a lot of theses [caramel] apples have been consumed."
"Listeria has evolved and it has evolved to grow really well at refrigerated temperatures [too]."
For updates and more information on the specific locations/cases currently being investigated, please visit the CDC website, and stay tuned for more reports.
