Invasive listeriosis in a patient with several episodes of antibiotic associated colitis presumably due to Clostridium difficile

A 62-year-old man developed a blood stream infection and meningitis due to Listeria monocytogenes, 20 days after an episode of pseudo-membranous colitis. The patient, hospitalized for the first time for transurethral prostatectomy, was readmitted 20 days later with watery diarrhea. Pseudo-membranous colitis was diagnosed and treated successfully, without testing for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). After 15 more days, the patient developed again diarrhea, fever and confusion. Hospitalized again, blood and cerebrospinal fluid cultures resulted positive for L. monocytogenes. The patient was treated successfully and a diagnosis of recurrent CDI was confirmed following culture and nucleic acid amplification assays both positive for C. difficile. This is the first report of an invasive listeriosis after CDI underlines the importance of taking greater awareness in complicated blood stream infections that may arise after CDI.