CULTURE GROUP B STREPTOCOCCUS (GBS)

GROUP B STREPTOCOCCUS (GBS) OR STREPTOCOCCUS AGALACTIAE, A GRAM POSITIVE BETA HEMOLYTIC COCCI, IS ONE OF THE MOST COMMON CAUSES OF NEONATAL SEPSIS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. EARLY-ONSET DISEASE, EVIDENT DURING THE FIRST 6 DAYS OF LIFE IS ACQUIRED BY NEONATES THROUGH THE VERTICAL TRANSMISSION FROM COLONIZED MOTHERS EITHER BY ASCENDING ROUTE OR BY ACQUISITION DURING PASSAGE THROUGH BIRTH CANAL. GBS COLONIZES GENITOURINARY TRACT OF 10-40% OF ALL PREGNANT WOMEN. REVISED GUIDELINES FROM THE CENTERS OF DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION (CDC), 2010 FOR THE PREVENTION OF PERINATAL GBS DISEASE RECOMMENDS THAT ALL PREGNANT WOMEN BE SCREENED FOR GBS BETWEEN 35-37 WEEKS OF GESTATION AND INTRAPARTUM ANTIBIOTIC PROPHYLAXIS BE GIVEN TO COLONIZED WOMEN AT THE TIME OF LABOR ONSET OR RUPTURE OF MEMBRANES.