Streptococcus B (GBS) (2)

 What is it?

Dr Claude Allouche, gynécologue
Ahuza Clinic, Raanana
058 726 02 64

Streptococcus B (GBS): What is it?
 

Streptococcus B or GBS is a bacterium that can be found in the vagina of some women without causing symptoms.
 
Streptococcus B is called GBS in Israel, after its Anglo-Saxon name (Group B Streptococcus), but it can also be called by its Latin name: Streptococcus agalactiae.
 
This is a bacterium that can be found in men or women, in the digestive tract or the vagina.
 
Most often, its presence is inconsequential.
 
Thus, the bacterium can be found in some women during a sample taken from the vagina, without causing symptoms: it is then said that it colonizes the vagina.
 
Outside of pregnancy, Strep B can also sometimes causen jemm mild infections that are easily treated with standard antibiotics.
 
In pregnant women and newborns, the bacteria can cause serious infections in the days or months following birth. It is the most common cause of serious infections in newborns.

Why screen for it during pregnancy? 

GBS is found in the vagina in about 10 to 25% of women during pregnancy.
 
It can cause serious infections in newborns or mothers during childbirth.
 
If the mother is colonized and if no preventive treatment is carried out, the baby has a one in two chance of becoming infected.
 
Although most newborns colonized during delivery will have no symptoms, about 1-2% of them will develop an infection.
 
Screening, if positive, allows treatment to be put in place at the time of delivery to limit the risk of infection.
 
No vaccine is currently available against streptococcal B infections.
 
There is also no means of prevention to avoid being a carrier of this bacterium

What are the consequences of the infection?

For the baby:
 
GBS can infect the baby very soon after birth, most often within the first 24 hours.
 
The infection most often results in
- sepsis (general infection of the body)
- respiratory distress (inability of the lungs to function properly).
- And sometimes meningitis (inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain)

Sometimes the infection is later. It occurs after the first week of life and most often before the second month.
It usually results in meningitis accompanied by fever.
 
For the mom:
In the mother after childbirth, the infection can be responsible for:
- a urinary tract infection,
- endometritis (infection of the inner lining of the uterus),
- sepsis
- or chorioamnionitis (infection of the placental tissues and amniotic fluid).