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Health Awareness Week

International Group B Strep Awareness Month

July 2023


International Group B Strep Awareness Month is observed throughout July to raise awareness among healthcare providers, parents and future parents, and anyone involved in perinatal research about Group B Strep (GBS). GBS is a type of bacteria that naturally exists in the gut and lower reproductive tracts of both men and women. However, if found in babies and infants, GBS leads to sepsis and meningitis. It is actually one of the most serious infections that causes newborn illness and death worldwide. Approximately one in four pregnant women carry GBS! Studies show that babies can be infected by GBS before birth and up to about six months of age due to their poorly developed immune systems. National today

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General

Pregnancy

Neonates

Articles

Prevention and risks

Research

Treatment

E-Books

E-Journals

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Articles

Prevention and risks

Should all pregnant women be offered testing for group B streptococcus?
What you need to know

  • Many countries have guidelines that recommend universal testing for group B streptococcus (GBS) in late pregnancy so that women who are colonised with GBS receive intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent newborn GBS infection
  • Observational studies suggest that routine testing in pregnancy reduces the risk of early onset GBS in newborns compared with offering antibiotics to women with risk factors for GBS transmission, or no testing. However, those observational studies have a moderate to critical risk of bias, and no randomised trials of routine testing versus a risk factor based approach have taken place
  • Routine testing could result in a large number of women receiving antibiotics unnecessarily, resulting in potential harms of widespread antibiotic use at individual and population levels
  • Offer testing for GBS carriage to pregnant women as per local guidelines, and where that guidance is lacking, discuss with the woman the risks and benefits of testing, as well as how the test result could affect her delivery

BMJ 26 April 2021

Azithromycin to prevent sepsis or death in women planning a vaginal birth
Among women planning a vaginal delivery, a single oral dose of azithromycin resulted in a significantly lower risk of maternal sepsis or death than placebo but had little effect on newborn sepsis or death. NEJM 23 March 2023

The risk factors for Group B Streptococcus colonization during pregnancy and influences of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis on maternal and neonatal outcomes
This data identified that pregnant women with diabetes mellitus (DM) are at high risk of Group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection and intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) is highly effective in prevention of adverse pregnancy and neonatal outcomes. BMC pregnancy and childbirth 27 March 2023

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Research

Long-term risk of Epilepsy following Invasive Group B Streptococcus Disease in neonates in Denmark
n this population-based cohort study of 1432 neonates, invasive Group B Streptococcus (iGBS)  disease was associated with a higher incidence of epilepsy in later childhood, notably after meningitis. Premature birth, sex, and low maternal socioeconomic position (SEP) modified the association. JAMA 21 April 2023

Using dried blood spots for a sero-surveillance study of maternally derived antibody against Group B Streptococcus
Vaccination during pregnancy could protect women and their infants from invasive Group B Streptococcus (GBS) disease. To understand if neonatal dried blood spots (DBS) can be used to determine the amount of maternally derived antibody that protects infants against invasive GBS disease, a retrospective case-control study was conducted in England between 1 April 2014 and 30 April 2015. Vaccine 4 February 2023

Virulence, phenotype and genotype characteristics of invasive group B Streptococcus isolates obtained from Swedish pregnant women and neonates
High activity of hyaluronidase may increase risk for stillbirth and invasive disease in pregnant or postpartum individuals. Our findings suggest that testing for GBS pigmentation and hyaluronidase may, albeit imperfectly, identify pregnant people at risk for invasive disease and represent a step towards a personalized medical approach for the administration of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis. Annals of clinical microbiology and antimicrobials 13 October 2022

Self-collected versus health-care professional taken swab for identification of vaginal-rectal colonisation with group B streptococcus in late pregnancy: a systematic review
This study provides reassuring evidence that self-collected swabs for maternal GBS colonisation are highly accurate relative to swabs collected by health-care professionals. Women requiring a swab for GBS colonisation can self-swab with appropriate instructions if they choose. European journal of obstetrics & gynecology and reproductive biology 22 May 2023

Group B Streptococcus early-onset disease: New preventive and diagnostic tools to decrease the burden of antibiotic use
The difficulty in recognizing early-onset neonatal sepsis (EONS) in a timely manner due to non-specific symptoms and the limitations of diagnostic tests, combined with the risk of serious consequences if EONS is not treated in a timely manner, has resulted in a low threshold for starting empirical antibiotic treatment. New guideline strategies, such as the neonatal sepsis calculator, have been proven to reduce the antibiotic burden related to EONS, but lack sensitivity for detecting EONS. In this review, the potential of novel, targeted preventive and diagnostic methods for EONS is discussed from three different perspectives: maternal, umbilical cord and newborn perspectives. Promising strategies from the maternal perspective include Group B Streptococcus (GBS) prevention, exploring the virulence factors of GBS, maternal immunization and antepartum biomarkers. The diagnostic methods obtained from the umbilical cord are preliminary but promising. Finally, promising fields from the newborn perspective include biomarkers, new microbiological techniques and clinical prediction and monitoring strategies. Consensus on the definition of EONS and the standardization of research on novel diagnostic biomarkers are crucial for future implementation and to reduce current antibiotic overexposure in newborns. Antibiotics 1 March 2023

A prospective study of Serum Ferritin as a diagnostic and prognostic marker of neonatal sepsis
Serum Ferritin levels can be helpful predictive marker of mortality in severe sepsis and higher ferritin is associated with increasing organ dysfunction. Serum ferritin levels >300 ng/ml can be useful in predicting outcome in children with severe sepsis. Journal of cardiovascular disease research 30 June 2022

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Treatment

Neonatal sepsis
What you need to know

  • The most common early signs of sepsis in infants are fever or hypothermia, tachypnoea, lethargy, or new parental reports of poor feeding. Consider sepsis in infants with an apparent change in mental status, tone, or perfusion as well
  • Neonatal sepsis can present with subtle signs but can rapidly progress to multisystem organ failure and meningitis, which carry high mortality and morbidity rates. Refer infants in whom sepsis is suspected to an emergency department for evaluation
  • Although non-specific tests such as a complete blood count and inflammatory markers are often obtained in the initial assessment, the most important test is a blood culture with at least 1 mL of blood, drawn before administering antibiotics

BMJ 1 October 2020

Adherence to screening and management guidelines of maternal Group B Streptococcus colonization in pregnancy
This is the first cohort study to describe the adherence to the recommended Western Australian GBS screening guidelines in the two different models of care. Findings may assist in the guidance and improvement of clinical protocols as well as the planning of clinical care in relation to GBS screening to reduce the risk of neonatal GBS infection. Journal of advanced nursing 15 April 2022

Mortality and neurodevelopmental outcome after invasive group B streptococcal infection in infants
The burden of invasive GBS infection during infancy is considerable and continues to affect children beyond infancy. These findings emphasize the need for new preventive strategies for disease reduction, and the need for survivors to be directly included into early detection pathways to access early intervention if required. Developmental medicine & child neurology 12 June 2023

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E-books

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E-Journals

This is just a sample of the journals the library subscribes to – you will need your library login

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Previous Awareness Weeks

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