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Epidemiology of group B streptococci: one year's experience in an obstetric and special care baby unit
Author(s) -
EASMON C. S. F.,
HASTINGS M. J. G.,
BLOWERS ANGELA,
BLOXHAM BARBARA,
DEELEY JANE,
MARWOOD R.,
RIVERS R. P. A.,
STRINGER JACKIE
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
bjog: an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.157
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1471-0528
pISSN - 1470-0328
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1983.tb08617.x
Subject(s) - carriage , group b , epidemiology , serotype , medicine , phage typing , pediatrics , typing , obstetrics , biology , surgery , immunology , microbiology and biotechnology , pathology
Summary. The epidemiology of group B streptococci (GBS) was studied in an obstetric unit and the related special care baby unit (SCBU). In 1 year 53 (77%) of 69 babies who acquired GBS from their mothers were colonized within 24 h of birth, compared with only 9 (35%) of 38 who acquired GBS from non‐maternal sources. While 38 (36%) of 107 GBS colonized babies in the obstetric unit derived the organism from a non‐maternal source, the value for the SCBU was only 2 (9%) of 23. In babies rectal and umbilical swabs gave the highest GBS isolation rates. Phage‐typing and serotyping suggested that colonized mother baby pairs, rather than staff, were the primary source of hospital acquired GBS. This mode of GBS acquisition did not result in long‐term carriage once babies had left hospital. Nosocomial transmission can play an important part in GBS epidemiology, but can be minimized by attention to infection control procedures.