Question

This species of bacteria accounts for 12%-15% of all infant meningitis cases. It can grow at low temperatures, making the storage of leftover baby food and bottles especially dangerous.

Answer 1

The bacterial species, Listeria monocytogenes, accounts for 12%-15% of infant meningitis cases.

Explanation:

Listeria monocytogenes is a group B strep gram-negative bacteria, one of the main causes of meningitis.

This species is psychrotrophic in nature which means that it can grow at low temperatures like refrigerator temperature and mostly found in areas with a temperature around 15-20 degrees Celsius.

These organisms also become psychrotolerant or psychrophiles and can grow at places where the temperature fluctuates.

This is the main reason for the spoilage of food stored in a refrigerator. So leftover baby foods, bottles stored in a refrigerator can be contaminated with these species.

When the infants ingest the contaminated food or use the bottle, they also get infected. Listeria monocytogenes cause meningitis in infants especially who are immunocompromised infants.