Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology of Invasive Group B Streptococcus Disease among Infants, China.

Wenjing Ji,Xiaodan Feng,Zeshi Liu,Xiaoping Mu,Zilu Zhang,Ziyaad Dangor,Marianne Cunnington,Shuhua Yang,Zhengjiang Jin,Qiuhong Li,Lan Jiang,Qiulian Deng,Chunyan Gao,Gang Li,Kankan Gao,Haijian Zhou,Haiying Liu,Xiaosong Qin,Yu Fang,Jing Liu,Yimin Zhu ,Aiming Wang ,Shou-Zhang She ,Shabir A Madhi ,Jin’e Lei

doi:10.3201/eid2511.181647

Abstract

Invasive group B Streptococcus (GBS) remains a leading cause of illness and death among infants globally. We conducted prospective and retrospective laboratory-based surveillance of GBS-positive cultures from infants <3 months of age in 18 hospitals across China during January 1, 2015–December 31, 2017. The overall incidence of GBS was 0.31 (95% CI 0.27–0.36) cases/1,000 live births; incidence was 0–0.76 cases/1,000 live births across participating hospitals. The case-fatality rate was 2.3%. We estimated 13,604 cases of GBS and 1,142 GBS–associated deaths in infants <90 days of age annually in China. GBS isolates were most commonly serotype III (61.5%) and clonal complex 17 (40.6%). Enhanced active surveillance and implementation of preventive strategies, such as maternal GBS vaccination, warrants further investigation in China to help prevent these infections.

Highlights

Invasive group B Streptococcus (GBS) remains a leading cause of illness and death among infants globally
The median length of hospitalization was 16 days; Invasive GBS Disease Incidence Rates Of 304 GBS cases, 199 occurred in infants born at sentinel hospitals, 115 early-onset disease (EOD) and 84 late-onset disease (LOD) cases
GBS is associated with severe neonatal infection in some hospitals in China [7,12,13,14,15,16], but a paucity of generalizable data is available across the country

Summary

Introduction

Invasive group B Streptococcus (GBS) remains a leading cause of illness and death among infants globally. Zhou); Guangdong Women and Children’s Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China Mu); Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, Wuhan, China Qin); Tangshan Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Tangshan, China Zhu); Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Nanjing, China Lei); Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital of Uygur Autonomous Region, Urumqi, China Jiang); The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China Liu); General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, China Two studies from China estimated the GBS incidence rate was 0.18–0.32 cases/1,000 live births [3]. A previous study by our group reported a GBS incidence rate of 0.55 (95% CI 0.44–0.69) cases/1,000 live births in 3 hospitals in the Guangdong Province of southern China during 2011–2014 [7]. The objectives of our study were defining the epidemiology of invasive group B streptococcal disease in infants

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion