Abstract
Streptococcus agalactiae (GBS) remains the leading cause of meningitis and neonatal sepsis in the world, and causes disease in pregnant and puerperal women. This is a retrospective study of GBS infections on women of childbearing age living in Comunitat Valenciana, Spain (years 2009–2014) and GBS colonization rate on pregnant women attending Hospital La Fe (years 2013–2015) according to their origin. An aggregated total of 6,641,960 women exposed during the study period had an average GBS isolation rate of 5.19‰ (5.14–5.25‰), geographical group rates being: Western Europe (2.2‰), North America (2.1‰), Australia (3.7‰), Spain (4.6‰), Latin America II (4.5‰), Eastern Europe (5.3‰), Asia (6.7‰), Latin America I (7.7‰), Middle East (7.9‰), Indian Subcontinent (17.2‰), North Africa (17.8‰), Sub-Saharan Africa (22.7‰). The 4532 pregnant women studied had an average GBS colonization rate of 12.47% (11.51–13.43) and geographical group rates varied similar to geographical isolation rates. Low GDP and high temperatures of the birth country were associated with higher colonization rates. Thus, differences in GBS colonization depend on the country of origin; Africa and the Indian subcontinent presented the highest, while Western Europe and North America had the lowest. This variability portrays a geographical pattern influenced by temperature and GDP.
Highlights
Streptococcus agalactiae (GBS) remains the leading cause of meningitis and neonatal sepsis in the world, and causes disease in pregnant and puerperal women
The newborn is colonized by Group B Streptococcus (GBS) as it passes through the birth canal, which occurs in approximately 40–60% of the children of carrier mothers, and 1–2% of them develop an infectious condition with high morbidity and mortality rates[3,4,5]
The total number of pregnant women included in the study was 4532, with an average GBS colonization rate of 12.47% (11.51–13.43%), 90.8% of the colonized women were detected after routine GBS screening between weeks 35–37, while 9.2% were detected before that period due to bacterial vaginosis or to threatened preterm labour
Summary
Streptococcus agalactiae (GBS) remains the leading cause of meningitis and neonatal sepsis in the world, and causes disease in pregnant and puerperal women. This is a retrospective study of GBS infections on women of childbearing age living in Comunitat Valenciana, Spain (years 2009–2014) and GBS colonization rate on pregnant women attending Hospital La Fe (years 2013–2015) according to their origin. Published data have shown that an increase in IgG in the serum of pregnant women correlates with a decrease in the colonization of the vaginorectal area[6,11] This would reduce the exposure of the newborn to GBS and the risk of early onset infection. The levels of maternal IgG com www.nature.com/scientificreports/
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