Group B beta-haemolytic streptococcus

Clinical significance
In Italy, 3 to 30% of pregnant women are colonised by group B streptococcus in the vagina or rectum, usually without symptoms. At birth, 40-70% of babies born to colonised women are infected with the bacterium passed on by the mother, particularly in the womb shortly before delivery through infection ascending across ruptured membranes, or during passage through the birth canal through contact with infected secretions. The harm to the newborn can be serious, including neonatal sepsis and early- or late-onset meningitis. For these reasons, testing for the bacterium is recommended at around the 36th week of pregnancy so that early preventive antibiotic treatment can be given.