Antimicrobial Resistance Profile of Group B <i>Streptococci</i> Colonization in a Sample Population of Pregnant Women from Romania

Abstract

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) represents one of the leading causes of life-threatening invasive disease in pregnant women and neonates. Rates of GBS colonization vary by region, but studies on maternal GBS status are limited in Romania. This study aims to identify the prevalence of colonization with GBS and whether the obstetrical characteristics are statistically associated with the study group’s antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of tested GBS strains. This observational study was conducted between 1 May and 31 December 2021 at The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Elias University Emergency Hospital (EUEH) in Bucharest, Romania. A total of 152 samples were positive for GBS and included in the study according to the inclusion criteria. As a result, the prevalence of colonized patients with GBS was 17.3%. GBS isolated in this population had the highest resistance to erythromycin (n = 38; 25%), followed by clindamycin (n = 36; 23.7%). Regarding the susceptibility patterns of tested strains to penicillin, the 152 susceptible strains had MIC breakpoints less than 0.06 μg/μL. The susceptibility patterns of tested strains to linezolid indicated three resistant strains with low levels of resistance (MICs ranging between 2 and 3 μg/μL). Multidrug resistance (at least three antibiotic classes) was not observed. In conclusion, although GBS naturally displays sensitivity to penicillin, the exact bacterial susceptibility testing should be performed in all cases where second-line therapy is taken into consideration for treatment. We acknowledge the need for future actions to limit multidrug-resistant bacteria.

Keywords

• group B <i>Streptococcus</i>
• antimicrobial resistance
• pregnant women
• <i>Streptococcus agalactiae</i>