Prenatal screening for group B Streptococcus: impact of antepartum screening and prophylaxis on neonatal care

Article Abstract:

The practice of screening fetuses without symptoms of group B Streptococcus before birth and treating women for the disease during labor may result in more newborns being treated and for a longer period of time. The increases in screening and treatment may carry certain tradeoffs, however, such as drug resistance of group B Streptococcus, increased separation of mothers from newborns, and increased costs. Researchers surveyed 1,356 members of the American Academy of Pediatrics and found that 33.7% routinely treat preterm newborns for group B Streptococcus even if there are no symptoms. All pediatricians said they would treat a newborn if its mother had a fever during labor. Disagreements over global screening and treatment of group B Streptococcus should be examined before setting guidelines for care.

Practice

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Prenatal screening for group B Streptococcus: impact of antepartum screening on antenatal prophylaxis and intrapartum care

Article Abstract:

Physicians specializing in the treatment of pregnant women and their newborns may disagree on guidelines for screening and treating pregnant women with group B Streptococcus. Since the 1960s, group B Streptococcus has become the cause of up to a third of the cases of newborn sepsis. Researchers surveyed 1,232 members of the Society of Perinatal Obstetricians and found that most respondents did not follow obstetric or pediatric guidelines for screening and treatment of group B Streptococcus. A majority of 65.8% of respondents said they screened only patients at high risk for having group B Streptococcus. Reasons for the discrepancies include the lack of an effective vaccine against group B Streptococcus, inaccurate results from cultures, and ineffectiveness of treatment given to infants before birth.

Beliefs, opinions and attitudes

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The accuracy and patient preference for self-collected group B Streptococcus cultures

Article Abstract:

Vaginal and anal cultures for group B Streptococcus may be of better quality when collected by patients than by nurses. Pregnant women and their fetuses may experience serious infection from Group B Streptococcus if it goes untreated. Researchers compared the sensitivity of vaginal and anal cultures collected by 251 pregnant patients to those collected from patients by nurses. Group B Streptococcus was identified in 19.1% of samples. It was identified in 17.5% of patient-collected samples and in 13.5% of nurse-collected samples. The false-negative rate was a low 1.9%. Using both vaginal and anal samples increased sensitivity. Most patients preferred to collect their own samples and expressed a positive response to self-sampling on future tests.

Methods, Physiological aspects, Self-care, Health, Self care (Health), Vaginal smears

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