New Approaches for GBS disease

Written on April 16, 2009 by steven

currently, researchers are investigating two other approaches: the development of a vaccine against group B strep and the development of a rapid, easily available, and accurate screening test that could be performed in labor with immediate results. A screening test would identify the women who carry GBS at the time of delivery and reduce the overall number of women receiving treatment. Screening tests are currently available but not considered accurate enough to determine treatment to prevent newborn GBS infection.

Informed Consent

To allow for informed consent, women should know the following:

• Approximately 1 in 200 newborns born to a mother colonized with GBS will develop GBS disease early in the newborn period.
• The risk of a newborn’s acquiring GBS from a mother who tests positive for the organism is 29 times higher than the risk for a newborn whose mother had a negative prenatal culture.
• The risk of a newborn’s acquiring GBS in a labor that is preterm or complicated by long duration of membrane rupture or fever is 7 times higher than the risk for newborns born without these labor complications.
• Five to 20 percent of newborns infected with GBS Will die.
• The treated woman’s risk of a mild allergic reaction to penicillin is 1 in 10.
• The treated woman’s risk of a serious allergic reaction to penicillin is 1 in 10,000.
• The risk of dying from an allergic reaction to penicillin is 1 in 100,000 treated women.
• Treatment for GBS before labor is not effective in preventing newborn GBS disease.

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Posted in Medical Care

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