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Group B Streptococcal Infection
Group B Strep Infection; GBS Infection
Streptococcus (group B strep, GBS) are bacteria that come and go naturally in the body. Most of the time the bacteria are not harmful, but they can cause serious illness in people of all ages. In fact, group B strep disease is a common cause of severe infection in newborns. Learn steps pregnant women can take to help protect their babies.
Pregnancy and Group B Strep bacteria
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Streptococcus group b
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Group B Streptococcus (group B strep, GBS) are bacteria that come and go naturally in the body. Most of the time the bacteria are not harmful, but they can cause serious illness in people of all ages. In fact, group B strep disease is a common cause of severe infection in newborns. While GBS disease can be deadly, there are steps pregnant women can take to help protect their babies.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Streptococcus Pyogenes (Group A Strep)
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Rates of serious group B strep (GBS) infections are higher among newborns, but anyone can get GBS disease. Below are some important facts about GBS disease in babies, pregnant women, and others.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Newborn and Group B Step bacteria
Image by TheVisualMD / CDC
GBS bacteria can cause many types of infections:
GBS most commonly causes bacteremia, sepsis, pneumonia, and meningitis in newborns. It is very uncommon for GBS to cause meningitis in adults.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Pregnant Woman with Fetus at 9 Months lateral view
Image by TheVisualMD
Anyone can get group B strep (GBS) disease, but some people are at greater risk for disease than others. Being a certain age or having certain medical conditions can put you at increased risk for GBS disease.
About 1 in every 4 pregnant women carry GBS bacteria in their body.
GBS disease is most common in newborns. There are factors that can increase a pregnant woman’s risk of having a baby who will develop GBS disease, including:
Talk to your doctor or midwife to learn more and find out if you are at risk.
In adults, most cases of GBS disease are among those who have other medical conditions. Other medical conditions that put adults at increased risk include:
Risk for serious GBS disease increases as people get older. Adults 65 years or older are at increased risk compared to adults younger than 65 years old.
GBS bacteria commonly live in people’s gastrointestinal and genital tracts. The gastrointestinal tract is the part of the body that digests food and includes the stomach and intestines. The genital tract is the part of the body involved in reproduction and includes the vagina in women.
The bacteria do not spread through food, water, or anything that people might have come into contact with. How people get these bacteria or spread them to others is generally unknown.
However, experts know that pregnant women can pass the bacteria to their babies during delivery. Most babies who get GBS disease in the first week of life (early-onset) are exposed to the bacteria this way. Babies who develop GBS disease from the first week through three months of life have late-onset disease. It can be hard to figure out how babies who develop late-onset GBS disease got the bacteria. The bacteria may have come from the mother during birth or from another source.
Other people that live with someone who has GBS bacteria, including other children, are not at risk of getting sick.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Streptococcus agalactiae
Image by CDC/ Sarah Bailey Cutchin; Photo credit: Alissa Eckert
Bacteria called group B Streptococcus (group B strep, GBS) commonly live in people’s gastrointestinal and genital tracts. The gastrointestinal tract is the part of the body that digests food and includes the stomach and intestines. The genital tract is the part of the body involved in reproduction and includes the vagina in women. Most of the time the bacteria are not harmful and do not make people feel sick or have any symptoms. Sometimes the bacteria invade the body and cause certain infections, which are known as GBS disease.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Premature infant in an incubator at the Mcmaster Children's Hospital NICU
Image by Peter K Burian
Symptoms of group B strep (GBS) disease are different in newborns compared to people of other ages who get GBS disease.
The symptoms of GBS disease can seem like other health problems in newborns and babies. Symptoms include:
Babies who get it in the first week of life have “early-onset GBS disease.” Most newborns with early-onset disease have symptoms on the day of birth. In contrast, babies who develop disease later can appear healthy at birth and during their first week of life.
Women who give birth to a baby who develops GBS disease usually do not feel sick or have any symptoms.
Symptoms depend on the part of the body that is infected. Listed below are symptoms associated with the most common infections caused by GBS bacteria.
Symptoms of bacteremia (blood stream infection) and sepsis (the body’s extreme response to an infection) include:
Symptoms of pneumonia (lung infection) include:
Skin and soft-tissue infections often appear as a bump or infected area on the skin that may be:
People with skin infections may also have a fever.
Bone and joint infections often appear as pain in the infected area and might also include:
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Instructions for the collection of a genital swab for the detection of GBS from CDC
Image by Centers for Disease Control
If doctors suspect someone has GBS disease, they will take samples of sterile body fluids. Examples of sterile body fluids are blood and spinal fluid. Doctors look to see if GBS bacteria grow from the samples (culture). It can take a few days to get these results since the bacteria need time to grow. Doctors may also order a chest x-ray to help determine if someone has GBS disease.
Sometimes GBS bacteria can cause urinary tract infections (UTIs or bladder infections). Doctors use a sample of urine to diagnose urinary tract infections.
Doctors usually treat GBS disease with a type of antibiotic called beta-lactams, which includes penicillin and ampicillin. Sometimes people with soft tissue and bone infections may need additional treatment, such as surgery. Treatment will depend on the kind of infection caused by GBS bacteria. Patients should ask their or their child’s doctor about specific treatment options.
Babies may have long-term problems, such as deafness and developmental disabilities, due to having GBS disease. Babies who had meningitis are especially at risk for having long-term problems. Care for sick babies has improved a lot in the United States. However, 2 to 3 in every 50 babies (4% to 6%) who develop GBS disease will die.
GBS bacteria may also cause some miscarriages, stillbirths, and preterm deliveries. However, many different factors can lead to stillbirth, pre-term delivery, or miscarriage. Most of the time, the cause for these events is not known.
Serious GBS infections, such as bacteremia, sepsis, and pneumonia, can also be deadly for adults. On average, about 1 in 20 non-pregnant adults with serious GBS infections die. Risk of death is lower among younger adults and adults who do not have other medical conditions.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Group B Strep Test
Also called: Group B strep, GBS, Prenatal group B strep (GBS) screening, Group B streptococcus, Group B beta-hemolytic streptococcus, Streptococcus agalactiae, Beta-hemolytic strep culture
Strep B is a type of bacteria that is usually harmless in adults but can be deadly in newborns. A group B strep test is most often used to check for the bacteria in pregnant women. Antibiotics can prevent a mother from infecting her unborn baby.
Co-amoxiclav, penicillin based antibiotic.
Image by John Campbell
The two best ways to prevent group B strep (GBS) disease during the first week of a newborn’s life are:
Unfortunately, experts have not identified effective ways to prevent GBS disease in people older than one week old.
Most babies born to women who tested positive for GBS bacteria do not need treatment if their mother received antibiotics during labor.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) recommend women get tested for GBS bacteria when they are 36 through 37 weeks pregnant. The test is simple and does not hurt. Clinicians use a sterile swab (“Q-tip”) to collect a sample from the vagina and the rectum. They send the sample to a laboratory for testing.
Women who test positive for GBS are not sick. However, they are at increased risk for passing the bacteria to their babies during birth.
GBS bacteria come and go naturally in people’s bodies. A woman may test positive for the bacteria at some times and not others. That is why doctors test women late in their pregnancy, close to the time of delivery.
Clinicians give antibiotics to women who are at increased risk of having a baby who will develop GBS disease. The antibiotics help protect babies from infection, but only if given during labor. Doctors cannot give antibiotics before labor begins because the bacteria can grow back quickly.
Clinicians give the antibiotic by IV (through the vein). Clinicians most commonly prescribe a type of antibiotic called beta-lactams, which includes penicillin and ampicillin. However, clinicians can also give other antibiotics to women who are severely allergic to these antibiotics. Antibiotics are very safe. For example, about 1 in 10 women have mild side effects from receiving penicillin. There is a rare chance (about 1 in 10,000 women) of having a severe allergic reaction that requires emergency treatment.
Antibiotics are very effective at preventing GBS disease in newborns. Consider the following examples:
Her baby has a 1 in 4,000 chance of developing GBS disease.
Her baby has a 1 in 200 chance of developing GBS disease.
Emma’s baby is 20 times more likely to get GBS disease compared to Tanya’s baby.
Currently, there is no vaccine to help pregnant women protect their newborns from GBS bacteria and disease. Researchers are working on developing a vaccine, which may become available in the future.
The following strategies are not effective at preventing GBS disease in babies:
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
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