Abstract
Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a Gram-positive bacterium which often colonizes maternal vaginal and rectal epitheliums and can be transmitted to the neonate during delivery. GBS infections may cause significant maternal and neonatal morbidity, including sepsis, pneumonia and meningitis. In Democratic Republic of Congo, few studies have been done on GBS colonization of pregnant women. This study was conducted in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo in order to determine the prevalence of GBS vaginal colonization among pregnant women at a gestational age of 35 - 37 weeks and the antibiotic susceptibility. Vaginal swabs of 104 pregnant women were inoculated onto Chromatic Strepto B medium. GBS isolates were identified by Gram staining, catalase test, blue-green colonies and confirmed to be GBS by Strepto B latex test kit. Antibiotic susceptibility test was done using the disc diffusion method. The prevalence of GBS vaginal colonization was 23.07%. Of the isolates studied 100%, 75%, 62.5%, 50% were sensitive to vancomycin, clindamycin, cefazolin, and erythromycin respectively. Our findings seem to suggest that maternal GBS colonization rate in this study was higher compared to a previous report from Bukavu in Democratic Republic of Congo. All isolates were found to be sensitive to vancomycin which was the most effective antibiotic for the treatment of GBS infections.
Highlights
Group B Streptococcus (GBS) or Streptococcus agalactiae is a Gram-positive coccus with 10 known serotypes [1]
This study was conducted in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo in order to determine the prevalence of GBS vaginal colonization among pregnant women at a gestational age of 35 - 37 weeks and the antibiotic susceptibility
It has been shown that the screening approach and intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) rather than the identification of maternal clinical risk factors for early-onset neonatal GBS disease are more effective in preventing Early-onset GBS disease (EOD) [6]
Summary
Group B Streptococcus (GBS) or Streptococcus agalactiae is a Gram-positive coccus with 10 known serotypes [1] It often colonizes maternal vaginal and rectal epitheliums and can be transmitted to the neonate during delivery [2]. It has been shown that the screening approach and IAP rather than the identification of maternal clinical risk factors for early-onset neonatal GBS disease are more effective in preventing EOD [6]. In developed countries prenatal screening in pregnant women and IAP have been widely established and successfully reduced the incidence of GBS neonatal disease [7]. Literature data have demonstrated that studies on prevalence and antibiotic resistance of GBS isolated on pregnancy women have been conducted is many African countries [10] [11]. This study was conducted in order to evaluate the prevalence of vaginal colonization of GBS in pregnant women and to assess susceptibility of GBS isolates to different antibiotics
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