Group B streptococcal infections

Abstract

Lancefield group B β-hemolytic streptococci were first recorded as a cause of human infection in 1938, when Fry 1 described three patients with fatal puerperal sepsis. Sporadic cases were reported during the next 3 decades, but this microorganism remained unknown to most clinicians until the 1970s, when a dramatic increase in the incidence of septicemia and meningitis in neonates caused by group B streptococci was documented from geographically diverse regions. 2, 3, 4 The emergence of group B streptococcal infections in neonates was accompanied by an increasing number of these infections in pregnant women and nonpregnant adults. In pregnant women, these infections commonly were manifested as localized uterine infections or chorioamnionitis, often with bacteremia, and had an almost uniformly good outcome with therapy. In other affected adults, who typically had underlying medical conditions, however, group B streptococcal infection often resulted in a fatal outcome. 8