PEDIATRICS Vol. 58 No. 3 September 1976, pp. 346-353
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Nosocomial Transmission of Group B Streptococci

Robert C. Aber M.D.1, Nancy Allen R.N.1, James T. Howell M.D., M.P.H.1, Hazel W. Wilkenson Ph.D.1, and Richard R. Facklam Ph.D.1

1 Hospital Infections Branch, Bacterial Diseases Division, Bureau of Epidemiology, and the Bacteriology Division, Bureau of Laboratories, Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia, and the Palm Beach County Health Department, and St. Mary's Hospital, Palm Beach, Florida

Group B streptococci are an important cause of infant septicemia and meningitis. A prospective study of group B streptococcal colonization in a 300-bed community hospital disclosed rates of 29% of 297 third-trimester women, 37% of 242 newborn infants, and 45% of 22 hospital personnel. Colonized parturients were more frequently black and anemic on admission for delivery. Infant colonization was statistically associated with a positive maternal genital culture, low birthweight, and prematurity.

Nosocomial transmission of group B streptococci was strongly suggested by observations that 41% of colonized infants were born to culture-negative women and such infants became colonized later in their hospital stay than did colonized infants born to colonized women. Furthermore, hospital personnel working in the labor-delivery and nursery areas had a significantly higher prevalence of the organism than did personnel from other areas.

Clearly, more information is needed about the epidemiology of group B streptococcal disease before appropriate and rational control measures can be recommended.

Submitted on December 1, 1975
Accepted on February 13, 1976




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W. E. Benitz, J. B. Gould, and M. L. Druzin
Risk Factors for Early-onset Group B Streptococcal Sepsis: Estimation of Odds Ratios by Critical Literature Review
Pediatrics, June 1, 1999; 103(6): 77e - 77.
[Abstract] [Full Text]