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Streptococcus B prevalence low in pregnant women in Greece
LONDON — The prevalence of group B streptococcus in pregnant women from Greece was low, as 93 of 2,793 women studied were positive for the bacterium.
Results from susceptibility testing indicated no resistance to penicillin and ampicillin. Other antibiotics demonstrated the following resistance rates: erythromycin, 26.88%; clindamycin, 19.36%; tetracycline, 92.48%; levofloxacin, 3.23%; vancomycin, 0%; and linezolid (Zyvox, Pharmacia and Upjohn), 0%.
“Group B streptococcus is a cause of early neonatal morbidity and mortality,” Aikateirni Papanagioutou, MD, of Alexandra Hospital in Athens, Greece, told Infectious Disease News. “Maternal vaginal colonization with group B streptococcus is a risk factor for invasive disease in the first week of newborn life.”
Papanagioutou and colleagues studied the prevalence of vaginal colonization of group B streptococcus in pregnant women, and set out to determine the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of the isolates.
Between October 2009 and October 2011, vaginal swabs were obtained from 2,793 pregnant women presenting at Alexandra Hospital. The researchers performed a rapid latex agglutination test for identification of antigens of streptococci. They also performed antibiotic susceptibility testing.
“Penicillin or ampicillin remain the drugs of choice for intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis, as isolates with increasing minimum inhibitory concentrations to both agents were not detected,” Papanagioutou said. “Clindamycin, the drug of choice for penicillin-allergic women at high risk for anaphylaxis, demonstrates a significant resistance rate. Also, group B streptococcus shows an unusually high resistance rate to tetracycline.”
Disclosure: Dr. Papanagioutou reports no relevant financial disclosures.