Protecting Newborns From a Dangerous Threat

Simple tests and antibiotics can thwart Group B strep, doctors say

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

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THURSDAY, Aug. 28 (HealthDay) -- One in four women in the United States carries a bacterium that could cause a debilitating and life-threatening infection in their newborn babies. And many don't know it.

Infants who contract Group B streptococcus before or during birth can be miscarried, stillborn, or die soon after birth. Those who survive often suffer permanent disabilities such as blindness, deafness, mental retardation and cerebral palsy, according to Group B Strep International, a nonprofit group dedicated to informing the public about the disease.

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The good news is, doctors have come up with an effective means of helping to protect newborns from the bacterium.

The bad news is, the strategy adopted in 2002 is hampering development of a vaccine for the germ and could, in the long run, lead to a strain of Group B strep that is resistant to antibiotics.

Babies are infected when they are exposed to Group B strep that's present in the mother's vagina during delivery. A simple swab test can determine whether a pregnant woman carries the germ. And the medical community has adopted an effective antibiotic therapy that will protect her child during delivery.

"It's a short-term solution, because we're using antibiotics more than we'd like, but it is working," said Dr. Craig E. Rubens, a professor of pediatrics, adjunct professor of microbiology and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, Immunology and Rheumatism for the Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.

Group B strep most commonly causes infection in the blood, the fluid and lining of the brain, or the lungs, according to Group B Strep International.

Testing and antibiotics have led to a 25 percent drop in Group B strep among week-old infants, who are susceptible to a form of the infection called early-onset, according to a recent study published in the Journal of American Medical Association.

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