Abstract
Group B Streptococcus (GBS) vertical transmission causes fetal and neonatal colonization and diseases. However, there is scarcity of data in low-income countries including Ethiopia. We conducted a cross-sectional study on 98 GBS positive mothers, and their newborns to find proportion of vertical transmission. GBS was identified from swabs by using recommended methods and vertical transmission at birth was confirmed by the culture of body surface swabs of newborns within 30 minutes following birth. GBS positivity among swabbed specimens collected for other purposes was 160/1540 (10.4%); 98 were from 385 recto-vaginal swabs of pregnant women, and 62 were from 1,155 swabs of the 385 births. Of the 98 GBS positive cases, 62 newborns were GBS colonized with vertical transmission proportion of 63.3%(95% CI: 54.1–72.4%). We identified that the proportion of vertical transmission in this study was within the range of other many global studies, but higher than recently published data in Ethiopia. Maternal educational level, employment and lower ANC visit were significantly associated risk factors to GBS vertical transmission. Efforts need to be made to screen pregnant women during antenatal care and to provide IAP to GBS positive cases to reduce mother to newborn vertical transmission.
Highlights
The achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 is a public health success to Ethiopia
Though Intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) lowers the risk of neonatal colonization and subsequent neonatal infections in the Western countries, culture-based screening of pregnant women at >35 weeks of gestation and provision of IAP to positive cases is not practiced in Ethiopia
To advance knowledge about the preventive strategies of vertically transmitting colonizing Group B Streptococcus (GBS), it is definitely worth making the effort to investigate the risk factors associated to vertical transmission in Ethiopia
Summary
The achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 is a public health success to Ethiopia. Mother www.nature.com/scientificreports to newborn GBS transmission and its associated risk factors in Ethiopia, in the study area is scarce though one published report from the Eastern part of Ethiopia showed 45.02%.rate of vertical transmission[12]. Though IAP lowers the risk of neonatal colonization and subsequent neonatal infections in the Western countries, culture-based screening of pregnant women at >35 weeks of gestation and provision of IAP to positive cases is not practiced in Ethiopia. To advance knowledge about the preventive strategies of vertically transmitting colonizing GBS, it is definitely worth making the effort to investigate the risk factors associated to vertical transmission in Ethiopia. This study, aimed to determine the proportion of vertical transmission of colonizing GBS and its associated risk factors among GBS positive pregnant women and their newborns in Northwest Ethiopia
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