Pregnancy Screening for Group B Strep
Group B Strep is the biggest cause of life-threatening infectionInvasion by organisms that may be harmful, for example bacteria or parasites. in newborn babies. The charity Group B Strep Support (GBSS) is urging the Government to make sensitive testing for group B Streptococcus (GBS) available for all pregnant women, as recent research shows this would save money as well as save babies' lives.
GBS is found naturally in around 25 per cent of pregnant women and causes no ill effects to most babies and their mothers. However, without preventative medicine, around 700 babies in the UK contract GBS around the time of birth, presenting as septicaemiaA serious condition in which there is rapid mulitiplication of bacteria and in which bacterial toxins are present in the blood., meningitisInflammation of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, due to infection, or pneumoniaInflammation of one or both lungs.. Of these, 75 will die while another 40 suffer on going health problems including deafness, blindness, cerebral palsyA disorder of posture and movement resulting from damage to a child's developing brain before, during or immediately after birth., and severe learning difficulties. Antibiotics administered to Mum intravenously in labour are extremely effective at preventing GBS infections in newborn babies.
The research published in BJOG - an International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology suggests that the NHS could actually make significant cost savings by introducing ECM testing for all pregnant women at 35-37 weeks and offering antibioticsMedication to treat infections caused by microbes (organisms that can't be seen with the naked eye), such as bacteria. in labour accordingly. The authors found that the cheapest preventative strategy would be to give antibiotics to all women in labour, but this would carry major disadvantages, such as medicalising childbirth and potentially increasing antibiotic resistanceThe ability of a microbe, such as a type of bacteria, to resist the effects of antibiotics or other drugs.. Excluding this option, they found that "screeningA way to identify people who may have a certain condition, among a group of people who may or may not seem to based on cultureThe growth within a laboratory of microbes, organisms too small to be seen with the naked eye. at 35-37 weeks' gestationIn pregnancy, the time from conception to birth., with antibiotics given to all those women who deliver prior to 35 weeks becomes the most cost-effective option."
Professor Philip Steer, Chairman of the GBSS Medical Advisory Committee, says, "Proposals for high quality trials of screening in the UK have been turned down because of lack of funding. In the meantime, other countries such as the USA, Australia, Spain, Italy and Germany have all introduced screening and seen major falls in the incidenceThe number of new episodes of a condition arising in a certain group of people over a specified period of time. of this deadly disease - in the USA by 70% since screening was introduced. I can see no reason why screening would not be equally effective in the UK and we now know it would save money as well as lives."
For further info: website: http://www.gbss.org.uk.
