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. However, GBS was infrequently reported in the developing world in contrast to western countries. This study assessed the prevalence of GBS colonization among pregnant women in Jiangsu, East China and reveled the difference of GBS infection between culture and PCR . Methods: A total of 16,184 pregnant women at 34 to 37 weeks, gestation aged 16–47 years were recruited from Nanjing Kingmed Diagnostics. There were 9022 pregnant women receiving GBS screening by PCR detection only. 7162 pregnant women received GBS screening by bacterial culture and GBS-positive samples were tested for antibiotic resistance. Results: The overall GBS positive rate was 8.7% by PCR and 3.5% by culture. There was no significant age difference of GBS infection, but the 25-29 age group and people aged over 40 years should pay more attention . The 249 GBS-positive samples which detected by culture were all sensitive to penicillin. The prevalence of resistance to erythromycin, clindamycin and levofloxacin was 77.5%, 68.3% and 52.2%, respectively. Conclusions: This study revealed the data on the prevalence of GBS colonization in pregnant women in Jiangsu, East China. And it compared the difference of GBS infection between culture and PCR. PCR was expectd to become a quick method in pregnancy women conventional detection of GBS infection.