ABSTRACT
GROUP B STREPTOCOCCAL DISEASE BURDEN Newborn and Young Infants Group B Streptococcus (GBS) has been a major cause of serious bacterial infection in neonates and young infants since the 1970s. Use of empirical antibiotic therapy for suspected infection based on delineated risk factors reduced case fatality rates and improved outcomes for infants with invasive GBS disease, but disease incidence was stable until the mid-1990s when clinical trial-based recommendations demonstrated the efficacy of maternal intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) with intravenous penicillin G or ampicillin in preventing early-onset (age <7 days) disease. The incidence of early-onset disease declined significantly in association with implementation of consensus IAP guidelines endorsed in 1996 by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and revised guidelines endorsed in 2002 that now recommend universal screening of pregnant women for GBS rectovaginal colonization and use of IAP for all GBS carriers (1). Active, multistate, population-based surveillance documented a 65% decrease in incidence from 1.7 cases per 1000 live births in 1993 to 0.6 per 1000 in 1998 (2). Early-onset disease incidence declined further to 0.33 cases per 1000 live births during 2003 to 2005 (3).
