Prevention of group B streptococcal infection in newborns. Recommendation statement from the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care.

© 2002 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors Two forms of group B streptococcal (GBS) infection — early onset and late onset — in infants are well recognized, and the distinctions between them are described in Table 1. Risk factors for GBS infection in general include (a) preterm labour (< 37 weeks’ gestation), (b) prolonged rupture of membranes (≥ 18 hours), (c) maternal fever (temperature ≥ 38.0°C), (d) GBS bacteriuria during pregnancy and (e) previous delivery of a newborn with GBS infection regardless of current maternal GBS colonization status. In the absence of intrapartum chemoprophylaxis (IPC), colonization will occur in about 40%–50% of infants of mothers who are GBS positive on screening. IPC is effective in reducing the incidence of colonization by 80%–90%. In the absence of treatment, early-onset infection will develop in a small but important proportion of infants of colonized mothers.