The natural history of group B streptococcal colonization in the pregnant woman and her offspring. I. Colonization studies

Martha D. Yow, Leroy J. Leeds, Peter K. Thompson, Edward Mason, Dorothy J. Clark, Craig W. Beachler

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    104 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    A longitudinal study of colonization by group B streptococcus (GBS) was conducted in 93 pregnant women and 92 of their infants. Positive cultures were obtained from vaginal swab specimens on at least one occasion during pregnancy from 20.4% of the women. Three types of carriage were observed: chronic, transient, and intermittent. At the time of delivery, 12.9% of the mothers were colonized by GBS. GBS colonization occurred in 41.7% of the infants of the mothers colonized intrapartum. Only 1.2% of infants intrapartum culture-negative mothers were colonized. Infants colonized at birth were culture negative by 4 months of age. This study suggests that interruption of vertical transmission of GBS from mother to infant not only would influence the incidence of early-onset GBS disease but also might reduce the incidence of late-onset GBS disease.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)34-38
    Number of pages5
    JournalAmerican Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
    Volume137
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    StatePublished - May 1 1980

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Obstetrics and Gynecology

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'The natural history of group B streptococcal colonization in the pregnant woman and her offspring. I. Colonization studies'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this