May 9th, 2012 by madiha

About Information Diagnosis Streptococcal Infection

Group B Strep Infection Overview:

Group B strep (GBS) causes serious infections in newborn infants and pregnant women. Increasingly, group B strep also causes bloodstream infections and pneumonias in nonpregnant adults. Group B strep infections are treated with antibiotics.

To reduce the risk of infection in pregnant women and newborns, cultures are taken from pregnant women during late pregnancy, and intravenous antibiotics are given to those with positive cultures. This practice has significantly reduced the number of serious infections in newborns and pregnant women.

What is GBS?

GBS is one of many bacteria that can be present in our bodies. It usually causes no harm. This situation is called “carrying” GBS or being colonised with GBS.

It’s estimated that about one pregnant woman in five in the UK carries GBS in their digestive system or their vagina.

Around the time of labour and birth, many babies come into contact with GBS and are colonised by the bacteria. Most are unaffected but a small number can become infected.

Early-onset GBS infection:

If a baby develops GBS infection less than seven days after birth, it’s known as early-onset GBS infection. Most babies who become infected develop symptoms within 12 hours of birth. Symptoms include:

•      being floppy and unresponsive
•      not feeding well
•      grunting
•      high or low temperature
•      fast or slow heart rates
•      fast or slow breathing rates
•      irritability

It’s estimated that about 1 in 2,000 babies born in the UK and Ireland develops early-onset GBS infection. This means that every year in the UK (with 680,000 births a year) around 340 babies will develop early-onset GBS infection.
What complications can it cause?

Most babies who become infected can be treated successfully and will make a full recovery.

However, even with the best medical care, one in 10 babies diagnosed with early-onset GBS infection will die. The infection can cause life-threatening complications, such as:

•      blood poisoning (septicaemia)
•      infection of the lung (pneumonia)
•      infection of the lining of the brain (meningitis)

Another one-in-five babies who survive the infection will be affected permanently. Early-onset GBS infection can cause problems such as cerebral palsy, deafness, blindness and serious learning difficulties.

Rarely, GBS can cause infection in the mother. For example, an infection in the womb or urinary tract, or more seriously, an infection that spreads through the blood, causing symptoms to develop throughout the whole body (sepsis).
Preventing early-onset GBS infection

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has published guidance for healthcare professionals on preventing early-onset GBS infection. For more information, see Is my baby at risk of early-onset GBS infection?

If you have previously had a baby with GBS, your maternity team will either monitor the health of your newborn baby closely for at least 12 hours after birth, or treat them with penicillin until blood tests confirm whether or not GBS is present.

Late-onset GBS infection:

Late-onset GBS infection develops seven or more days after a baby is born. This is not usually associated with pregnancy. The baby probably became infected after the birth. For example, they may have caught the infection in hospital from someone else.

• GBS infections after three months of age are extremely rare.
• Read the answers to more questions about pregnancy

How can I find out if I have Group B Strep infection?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended routine screening for vaginal strep B for all pregnant women. This screening is performed between the 35th and 37th week of pregnancy (studies show that testing done within 5 weeks of delivery is the most accurate at predicting the GBS status at time of birth.)

The test involves a swab of both the vagina and the rectum. The sample is then taken to a lab where a culture is analyzed for any presence of GBS. Test results are usually available within 24 to 48 hours.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all women who have risk factors PRIOR to being screened for GBS (for example, women who have preterm labor beginning prior to 37 completed weeks’ gestation) are treated with IV antibiotics until their GBS status is established.

How does someone get group B strep?

The bacteria that causes group B strep normally lives in the intestine, vagina, or rectal areas. Group B strep colonization is not a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Approximately 25% of all healthy women carry group B strep bacteria. For most women there are no symptoms of carrying the GBS bacteria.

What if I test positive for Group B Strep infection?

If you test positive for GBS this simply means that you are a carrier. Not every baby who is born to a mother who tests positive for GBS will become ill. Approximately one out of every 200 babies whose mothers carry GBS and are not treated with antibiotics, will develop signs and symptoms of GBS disease. There are, however, symptoms that may indicate that you are at a higher risk of delivering a baby with GBS.