Group B Strep
Publications and Materials

Below are selected publications and materials related to group b strep. Please note the year of publication may be later than the year(s) the data represent.

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2008 Publications and Materials
2005 Publications and Materials
2004 Publications and Materials
2002 Publications and Materials
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Protect Your Baby from Group B Strep (8/7/08)
If you or someone you know is pregnant, you need to know about “group B strep." Group B streptococcal bacteria (also called GBS, group B strep, or baby strep) is very common in all types of women and can be passed on to a baby during childbirth. Protect babies from group B strep. If you are 35-37 weeks pregnant, ask your doctor or nurse about a group B strep test.

 Group B Strep Frequently Asked Questions (6/19/06)
http://www.cdc.gov/groupBstrep/gbs/gen_public_faq.htm
Group B streptococcus (group B strep) is a type of bacteria that causes illness in newborn babies, pregnant women, the elderly, and adults with other illnesses. Group B strep is the most common cause of life-threatening infections in newborns. Find out what you can do to prevent and treat group b strep.

QuickStats: Rate of Very Low Birthweight, by Age of Mother and Multiple-Birth Status- United States, 2003 (12/30/05)
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5447a9.htm?s_cid=mm5447a9_e
The risk of giving birth to a very low birthweight infant is higher for both younger and older mothers. Much of the added risk among older women is attributable to higher multiple birth rates. On average, infants born in multiple births are smaller than infants born in single births.

Perinatal Group B Streptococcal Disease Prevention, Minnesota (8/30/05)
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol11no09/04-1109.htm
PDF
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol11no09/pdfs/04-1109.pdf
As part of the Minnesota Department of Health Emerging Infections Program, prenatal care providers in Minnesota were surveyed in April 1998 to determine strategies to prevent perinatal GBS disease. In November 2002, a similar survey was undertaken to determine the extent to which Minnesota providers have adopted the revised 2002 CDC guidelines.

Disparities in Universal Prenatal Screening for Group B Streptococcus- North Carolina, 2002-2003 (7/30/05)
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5428a3.htm
PDF (p. 700)
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5428.pdf
To examine prenatal Group B streptococcus (GBS) screening among pregnant women in North Carolina, CDC analyzed 2002 and 2003 data from the North Carolina Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System. The proportions of women reporting prenatal screening for GBS were similar in 2002 and 2003 (70% and 74%, respectively); however, for both years, women of Hispanic ethnicity and women who received prenatal care at a hospital or health department clinic were less likely to report prenatal screening for GBS.

Diminishing Racial Disparities in Early-Onset Neonatal Group B Streptococcal Disease- United States, 2000-2003 (6/30/04)
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5323a2.htm
PDF (p. 502)
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5323.pdf
In 2002, CDC and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists revised guidelines for prevention of early-onset GBS disease to recommend late prenatal screening of all pregnant women and intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis for GBS carriers. This report updates early-onset incidence trends since 1999 and indicates that 1) after a plateau in early-onset disease incidence during 1999-2002, rates declined 34% in 2003 and 2) although racial disparities in incidence persist, rates for blacks now approach the 2010 national health objective of 0.5 cases per 1,000 live births. Continued implementation of screening and prophylaxis guidelines by clinicians and public health practitioners should lead to further declines in racial disparities.

Laboratory Practices for Prenatal Group B Streptococcal Screening - Seven States, 2003 (6/30/04)
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5323a3.htm
PDF (p. 506)
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5323.pdf
This report summarizes the results of a survey about prenatal culture-processing practices in 2003, which indicated that, although adherence to GBS isolation procedures was high, opportunities exist to improve implementation of recommendations related to antimicrobial susceptibility testing and GBS bacteriuria.

Prevention of Perinatal Group B Streptococcal Disease: Revised Guidelines from CDC
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5111a1.htm
PDF
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr5111.pdf
Data collected after the issuance of the 1996 guidelines prompted reevaluation of prevention strategies. The new recommendations are based on available evidence and expert opinion where sufficient evidence was lacking. Although many of the recommendations in the 2002 guidelines are the same as those in 1996, they include some key changes: 1) Recommendation of universal prenatal screening for vaginal and rectal GBS colonization of all pregnant women at 35-37 weeks' gestation; 2) Updated prophylaxis regimens for women with penicillin allergy; 3) Detailed instruction on prenatal specimen collection and expanded methods of GBS culture processing; 4) Recommendation against routine intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis for GBS-colonized women undergoing planned cesarean deliveries who have not begun labor or had rupture of membranes; 5) A suggested algorithm for management of patients with threatened preterm delivery; and 6) An updated algorithm for management of newborns exposed to intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis. Group B streptococcus (GBS) remains a leading cause of serious neonatal infection despite great progress in perinatal GBS disease prevention in the 1990s.

Prenatal Screening is Most Effective Strategy to Prevent Newborn Strep B Infections (Press Release)
http://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/r020724b.htm
NEJM Web Site- http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/347/4/233 (Non-CDC site)
Routine screening for group B streptococcus late in pregnancy is the most effective way to prevent transmission of the bacteria from mother to child during delivery. The data were published in the July 25, 2002 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Guidelines issued in 1996 to prevent transmission of the bacteria from mother to newborn recommend that health care providers use one of two methods. The new data show that the prenatal screening method was more than 50 percent more effective in preventing transmission than the clinical risk factor method. The new guidelines will be published in the CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Group B streptococcal disease remains a leading infectious cause of illness and death among newborns in the United States, resulting in approximately 1,600 illnesses and 80 deaths each year.

Group B Strep: Women’s Health Topics A-Z
http://www.cdc.gov/women/az/gbstrep.htm
View women’s health resources related to group b strep.

Are you Pregnant? Protect Your Baby from Group B Strep
http://www.cdc.gov/groupbstrep/docs/final_gbs_997787.pdf
Learn how pregnancy women can protect their baby from group b strep.

Frequently Asked Questions: Group B Strep
http://www.cdc.gov/groupBstrep/gbs/gen_public_faq.htm
Learn answers to frequently asked questions about group b strep.

Preventing Group B Streptococcal Disease
http://www.cdc.gov/groupbstrep/
Learn more about group b strep.

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This page last reviewed August 7, 2008
URL: http://www.cdc.gov/women/pubs/gbstrep.htm

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