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New group B strep guidelines clarify management of key groups Full Text
OBG Management, 03/03/2011
Yates J – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended screening and intra–partum prophylaxis among women who experience preterm labor, preterm premature rupture of membranes, group B Streptococcus in urine, and allergy to penicillin.
- Group B Streptococcus (GBS) causes roughly 1,200 cases of early–onset invasive disease every year, approximately 70% of them among infants born at or after 37 weeks’ gestation, and the case–fatality rate is 4% to 6%.
- Mortality is higher among preterm infants, with a case–fatality rate of 20% to 30% for infants born at or before 33 weeks’ gestation, compared with 2% to 3% for full–term infants.
- Now that all pregnant women undergo culture–based screening at 35 to 37 weeks’ gestation, the incidence of early–onset neonatal GBS disease has declined precipitously.
