Sensitivities of antigen detection and PCR assays greatly increased compared to that of the standard culture method for screening for group B streptococcus carriage in pregnant women.

ABSTRACT: Group B streptococcus (GBS) is a major cause of serious infections in neonates. The 2002 revised guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the prevention of perinatal GBS disease recommend that all pregnant women be screened for GBS carriage at between 35 and 37 weeks of gestation and that intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis be given to carriers. We studied the performances of four different GBS detection assays in the context of antenatal screening. Between May and August 2004, the 605 vaginorectal swab specimens received at our bacteriology laboratory for GBS antenatal detection were tested by the four assays. The standard culture method was done according to the CDC recommendations. The three experimental assays performed with the growth from the selective en

SUBMITTER: Rallu F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1393163 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature