Prevalence of Group B Streptococcus Colonization in Pregnant Women in Jiangsu, East China

Abstract Background : Group B streptococcus (GBS) is the leading cause of early-onset neonatal sepsis. This study assessed the prevalence of GBS colonization among pregnant women in Jiangsu, East China. Methods: A total of 16,184 pregnant women at 34 to 37 weeks , gestation aged 16–47 years were recruited from Nanjing Kingmed Diagnostics, including 9022 pregnant women who received GBS screening by PCR detection and 7162 by bacterial culture, antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed on GBS positive samples. Results: The overall GBS prevalence was 8.7% for pregnant women studied by PCR and 3.5% by culture. The 25-29 age group had the highest rate of GBS colonization in the pregnant women. The prevalence of resistance to erythromycin, clindamycin and levofloxacin was 77.5%, 68.3% and 52.2%, respectively. Conclusions: This study revealed the prevalence characteristics of GBS in pregnant women and the difference of GBS colonization between culture and PCR in Jiangsu province.