Abstract
BackgroundGroup B Streptococcus (GBS) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in infants in both developed and developing countries. To our knowledge, only a few studies have been reported the clinical features, treatment and outcomes of the GBS disease in China. The severity of neonatal GBS disease in China remains unclear. Population-based surveillance in China is therefore required.MethodsWe retrospectively collected data of <3 months old infants with culture-positive GBS in sterile samples from three large urban tertiary hospitals in South China from Jan 2011 to Dec 2014. The GBS isolates and their antibiotic susceptibility were routinely identified in clinical laboratories in participating hospitals. Serotyping and multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) were also conducted for further analysis of the neonatal GBS disease.ResultsTotal 70 cases of culture-confirmed invasive GBS infection were identified from 127,206 live births born in studying hospitals, giving an overall incidence of 0.55 per 1000 live births (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.44–0.69). They consisted of 49 with early-onset disease (EOD, 0.39 per 1000 live births (95% CI 0.29–0.51)) and 21 with late-onset disease (LOD, 0.17 per 1000 live births (95% CI 0.11–0.25)). The incidence of EOD increased significantly over the studying period. Five infants (4 EOD and 1 LOD) died before discharge giving a mortality rate of 7.1% and five infants (7.1%, 2 EOD and 3 LOD) had neurological sequelae. Within 68 GBS isolates from GBS cases who born in the studying hospitals or elsewhere, serotype III accounted for 77.9%, followed by Ib (14.7%), V (4.4%), and Ia (2.9%). MLST analysis revealed the presence of 13 different sequence types among the 68 GBS isolates and ST-17 was the most frequent sequence type (63.2%). All isolates were susceptible to penicillin, ceftriaxone, vancomycin and linezolid, while 57.4% and 51.5% were resistant to erythromycin and clindamycin, respectively.ConclusionsThis study gains the insight into the spectrum of GBS infection in south China which will facilitate the development of the guidance for reasonable antibiotics usage and will provide evidence for the implementation of potential GBS vaccines in the future.
Highlights
Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in infants in both developed and developing countries
Of the total 70 cases, 5 (4 early-onset GBS disease (EOD) and 1 late-onset disease (LOD)) died before discharge, for a mortality rate of 7.1%, and 5 (7.1%, 2 EOD and 3 LOD) had neurological sequelae (Fig. 1, Table 1)
The overall incidence of invasive GBS infection was 0.55 per 1000 live births during 2011–2014
Summary
Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in infants in both developed and developing countries. Only a few studies have been reported the clinical features, treatment and outcomes of the GBS disease in China. The severity of neonatal GBS disease in China remains unclear. Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is recognized as a leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality around the world [1,2,3,4]. A systematic review and meta-analysis reported an estimated global incidence of GBS in infants
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