Maternal carriage and neonatal colonisation of group B streptococcus in eastern Turkey: prevalence, risk factors and antimicrobial resistance

Our object is to determine the prevalence of group B streptococcus (GBS) carriage among pregnant women, the neonatal colonisation rate and the antimicrobial susceptibility to formulate a policy for treatment and prevention regarding perinatal GBS diseases in eastern Turkey. A total of 150 pregnant women were screened for GBS colonisation. Samples were collected from the vagina and the rectum of pregnant women, and the ear canal, throat and umbilicus of the neonates of colonised mothers. Antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates was also investigated. GBS was isolated in at least one specimen from the 150 women in 48 cases; it was estimated that, overall, about 32% of the pregnant women and 17.3% of overall newborns were colonised with GBS. The overall rate of GBS vertical transmission was 54.2% in this study. Maternal colonisation rate was significantly higher in younger ages (p < 0.01) when maternal age of 20 years was taken as a cut-off point. All isolates were found to be sensitive to penicillin, ampicillin, cefazolin and vancomycin. Resistance to erythromycin and clindamycin were found to be 13.5 and 2.7%, respectively.