Infection and Drug Resistance (Aug 2021)

Understanding Factors in Group B Streptococcus Late-Onset Disease

  • Berardi A,
  • Trevisani V,
  • Di Caprio A,
  • Bua J,
  • China M,
  • Perrone B,
  • Pagano R,
  • Lucaccioni L,
  • Fanaro S,
  • Iughetti L,
  • Lugli L,
  • Creti R

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 14
pp. 3207 – 3218

Abstract

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Alberto Berardi,1 Viola Trevisani,2 Antonella Di Caprio,2 Jenny Bua,3 Mariachiara China,4 Barbara Perrone,5 Rossella Pagano,6 Laura Lucaccioni,7 Silvia Fanaro,8 Lorenzo Iughetti,2,7 Licia Lugli,1 Roberta Creti9 1Terapia Intensiva Neonatale, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Policlinico, Modena, Italy; 2Scuola di Specializzazione in Pediatria, Università di Modena & Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy; 3Terapia Intensiva Neonatale, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria “Burlo Garofalo”, Trieste, Italy; 4Terapia Intensiva Neonatale, Ospedale Infermi, Rimini, Italy; 5Terapia Intensiva Neonatale, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Ospedali Riuniti, Ancona, Italy; 6Unità Operativa di Pediatria, Civile Sassuolo, Sassuolo, Italy; 7Unità Operativa di Pediatria, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Policlinico, Modena, Italy; 8Terapia Intensiva Neonatale, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria S. Anna, Ferrara, Italy; 9Reparto di Antibiotico Resistenza e Patogeni Speciali (AR-PS), Dipartimento di Malattie Infettive, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, ItalyCorrespondence: Alberto Berardi Tel +39 059 4222522Fax +39 059 42223770Email [email protected]: Group B streptococcus (GBS) infection remains a leading cause of sepsis, pneumonia, and meningitis in infants. Rates of GBS early onset disease have declined following the widcespread use of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis; hence, late-onset infections (LOGBS) are currently a common presentation of neonatal GBS dicsease. The pathogenesis, mode of transmission, and risk factors associated with LOGBS are unclear, which interfere with effective prevention efforts. GBS may be transmitted from the mother to the infant at the time of delivery or during the postpartum period via contaminated breast milk, or as nosocomial or community-acquired infection. Maternal GBS colonization, prematurity, young maternal age, HIV exposure, and ethnicity (Black) are identified as risk factors for LOGBS disease; however, further studies are necessary to confirm additional risk factors, if any, for the implementation of effective prevention strategies. This narrative review discusses current and previous studies that have reported LOGBS. Few well-designed studies have described this condition; therefore, reliable assessment of maternal GBS colonization, breastfeeding, and twin delivery as risk factors for LOGBS remains limited.Keywords: neonatal sepsis, prevention, infant, meningitis, CC17

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