The elderly, pregnant women and anyone immunocompromised is most at risk for contracting Listeria.
Several segments of the population are at increased risk and need to be informed so that proper precautions can be taken. [19,20, 27] The body’s defense against Listeria is called “cell-mediated immunity” because the success of defending against infection depends on our cells (as opposed to our antibodies), especially lymphocytes called “T-cells.” [12] Therefore, individuals whose cell-mediated immunity is suppressed are more susceptible to the devastating effects of listeriosis, including especially HIV-infected individuals, who have been found to have a Listeria-related mortality of 29%. [12, 17, 18]