Group B Streptococcus vaginal colonisation throughout pregnancy is associated with decreased Lactobacillus crispatus and increased Lactobacillus iners abundance in the vaginal microbial community.

ABSTRACT: Group B Streptococcus (GBS) asymptomatically colonises the vagina of up to 40% of pregnant women and can transmit to neonates during birth, causing neonatal pneumonia, sepsis, meningitis, and significant mortality. Vaginal GBS colonisation can be attributed to a range of host and bacterial factors, which may include the composition of the vaginal microbial community. There are few studies that have examined the vaginal community composition in relation to GBS colonisation throughout pregnancy. Here, we performed 16S rRNA sequencing (V3-V4) on vaginal swabs from women at 24- and 36-weeks' gestation, who were GBS culture-negative or GBS culture-positive at either 24 weeks or 36 weeks' gestation or at both timepoints. Vaginal swabs from 93 women were analysed; 46 women were culture-neg

SUBMITTER: Maidment TI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11471736 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature