Group B Streptococcus colonization status and antibiotic use during labour - a single-centre observational study.

OBJECTIVES: Group B streptococcus (GBS) colonization among pregnant women is the leading cause of neonatal infection. Intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) is the most effective method to reduce the incidents of neonatal sepsis. We describe compliance with GBS management and the implementation of IAP in the context of the long-term effect of antibiotics.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was conducted among 249 childbearing women hospitalized between January 2022 and February 2022 at University Clinical Center in Gdansk, Poland. The data were obtained from the questionnaire and medical records. We analyzed maternal colonization with GBS, compliance with GBS screening and treatment guidelines, risk factors contributing to GBS colonization, IAP administration, and neonatal congenital infection occurrence.

RESULTS: Of all patients, 240 (96.4%) were screened for GBS, 215 (89.6%) between 35-37 weeks of gestation. Fifty (20%) were GBS-positive, 184 (74%) negative, 15 (6%) had unknown GBS status. There were no significant differences between the GBS-positive and GBS-negative groups in maternal age, mode of delivery, gestational age at birth, maternal comorbidities, parity, GBS status in previous pregnancies, and the development of infection among infants of both groups, regardless of IAP administration. Of all the studied women, 158 (63.5%) received antibiotics, 91 (36.5%) did not. The study showed the low positive and the high negative predictive value of the antenatal GBS screening test.

CONCLUSIONS: We found that compliance with the universal GBS screening is widespread. The management of women with absent or only partial screening test requires assessing the risk factors before administering IAP.