Group B Streptococcus (group B Strep or GBS) is the UK's commonest cause of severe early-onset (up to six days) infection in babies. GBS is a normal body commensal, colonising the gut and vagina. GBS may pass to babies around childbirth; although most are unaffected, some develop severe infection. GBS is also a recognised cause of stillbirth and puerperal sepsis. Most GBS infection in babies is...

To Compare colonization of group B streptococcus (GBS) in diabetic and non-diabetic pregnant women. In this prospective study 50 pregnant women with diabetes mellitus (both pregestational and gestational) and 43 pregnant women without diabetes between 33 and 37 weeks' gestation were evaluated. Three samples for Group B streptococcal culture detection were obtained from each subject in the follo...

BACKGROUND Maternal vaginal colonisation with Group B Streptococcus (GBS, Streptococcus agalactiae) at the time of delivery can cause vertical transmission to the neonate. GBS is the leading cause of sepsis, meningitis and pneumonia in the infants. Asymptomatic colonisation of the vagina with GBS varies with the geographical location. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study conducted in 2009...

Beta-hemolytic, pyogenic streptococci are classified according to type of major surface antigen into A (Streptococcus pyogenes), B (Streptococcus agalactiae), C (multiple species including Streptococcus dysagalactiae) and G (multiple species including Streptococcus canis) Lancefield groups. Group A Streptococcus causes each year hundreds of thousands deaths globally as a result of infections an...

The prevalence of quinolone- and macrolide-resistant Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is increasing worldwide, but the relationship between resistance GBS to these antibiotics patient outcome remains unclear. Therefore, we evaluated whether blood stream infection caused by or associated with high mortality. Our findings in 77 patients bacteremia demonstrate that quinolone macrolide may not be risk f...

All clinical isolates of group B Streptococcus (GBS; Streptococcus agalactiae) are considered uniformly susceptible to β-lactams, including penicillins. However, GBS with reduced penicillin susceptibility (PRGBS) were first identified by our group in Japan and have also been reported from North America. PRGBS are non-susceptible to penicillin because of acquisition of amino acid substitutions n...

We compared StrepB Select medium (Select) after enrichment with conventional culture for the detection of Group B Streptococcus (GBS). Postenrichment sensitivities of Select and conventional culture were 98.8% and 92.2%, respectively (P<0.05). Select was superior for detection of GBS from vaginal-rectal specimens. Growth of non-GBS colonies required additional work to exclude the presence of GB...

To further understand the emergence of serotype IV group B Streptococcus (GBS) invasive disease, we used whole-genome sequencing to characterize 3 sequence type 468 strains isolated from neonates in Minnesota, USA. We found that strains of tetracycline-resistant sequence type 468 GBS have acquired virulence genes from a putative clonal complex 17 GBS donor by recombination.

Among 78 erythromycin-resistant group B streptococcus (GBS) isolates from Korea, ermB was detected in 58 (74.4%), mefA was detected in 14 (17.9%), and ermTR was detected in 6 (7.7%). The most prevalent serotypes of erythromycin-resistant GBS were V (detected in 34 isolates [43.6%]) and III (detected in 33 isolates [42.3%]). All serotype V erythromycin-resistant GBS harbored the ermB gene.