Neonatal Group B Streptococcal Disease — Screening and Prevention

During the 1990s, the incidence of disease caused by mother-to-child transmission of group B streptococcus fell by 65 percent, from 1.7 to 0.6 case per 1000 live births.1 The decline stemmed from the increased use of penicillin during labor in women at high risk for transmitting the infection to their newborns. Given this striking reduction in incidence, where do we go from here?Group B streptococcus became the leading cause of life-threatening infections in newborns during the 1970s. One woman in five is colonized with group B streptococcus in the gastrointestinal or genital tract. Infants become ill through aspiration of . . .