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Mission
To monitor the burden of group B streptococcal (GBS) disease through active surveillance and to motivate, support and evaluate efforts to prevent maternal and newborn group B streptococcal infections in the United States and globally.
CDC GBS Program Overview
CDC has an active group B strep prevention team located in the Respiratory Diseases Branch of the Division of Bacterial Diseases (DBD) in the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). Core domestic activities of the prevention team include:
- Monitoring the burden of invasive group B streptococcal disease through the Active Bacterial Core surveillance system which currently operates in 10 US states;
- Evaluating the impact and effectiveness of current prevention strategies;
- Collaborating with states in the ABCs network and elsewhere to monitor compliance with prevention recommendations;
- Developing and publishing CDC recommendations for the prevention of perinatal group B streptococcal disease, in consultation with key prevention partners;
- Raising awareness about group B strep disease prevention recommendations among the following target audiences: health care providers/hospitals/HMOs; clinical laboratory personnel; state and local public health partners; and the general public;
- Forming partnerships with states and with industry to promote group B streptococcal disease prevention;
- Assisting efforts by other government agencies and the private sector to develop and evaluate group B strep vaccine candidates by collecting information on preventable disease burden, serotype distribution, and cost-effectiveness of different vaccination strategies;
The group B strep team is also involved in active international collaborations to characterize and describe the burden of bacterial infections among newborns in developing countries, and to evaluate feasible, low-cost interventions to reduce this burden.