Question

A woman presents with leakage of fluid per vaginum and meconium stained liquor at 34 weeks of gestation. The most likely organism causing infection would be:

• A. Listeria monocytogenes
• B. Toxoplasmosis
• C. CMV
• D. Herpes

Hint:

Early meconium-stained liquor with membrane rupture is the classic Listeria clue.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

The single most discriminating detail is meconium-stained liquor at only 34 weeks. Meconium passage is uncommon this early, and when it accompanies ruptured membranes and infection it points the examiner toward Listeria monocytogenes.

Listeria reaches the pregnant woman through food such as soft cheeses, unpasteurised milk, and cold cuts. It then crosses to the fetus and placenta, setting off chorioamnionitis and preterm labour, and it is specifically associated with that early meconium staining of the amniotic fluid.

The alternatives do not match an acute membrane-rupture presentation. Toxoplasmosis and CMV are congenital infections recognised by brain calcification, eye lesions, and growth restriction discovered over time, not by sudden meconium-stained PROM. Herpes infects the newborn mainly during vaginal delivery, causing skin, eye, and neurological disease rather than this antenatal picture.

Putting the food-borne route, the chorioamnionitis, and the tell-tale early meconium together, the organism is Listeria monocytogenes.
\[\boxed{\text{Listeria monocytogenes}}\]