Prevalence of Streptococcus agalactiae colonization in pregnant women from the 18th Health Region of Paraná State

• Main Authors: Simone Cristina Castanho Sabaini de Melo, Aline Balandis Costa, Flávia Teixeira Ribeiro da Silva, Natália Maria Maciel Guerra Silva, Cristiano Massao Tashima, Rosilene Fressatti Cardoso, Rúbia Andreia F. de Pádua, Isolde Previdelli, Maria Dalva de Barros Carvalho, Sandra Marisa Pelloso
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade de São Paulo 2018-02-01
• Series: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
• Subjects: Streptococcus agalactiae.; Colonization; Urinary infections; Pregnant women; Public health
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0036-46652018005000200&lng=en&tlng=en
• ISSN: 1678-9946

ABSTRACT Introduction The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of GBS colonization in pregnant women in a public health service. Methods A study of 496 pregnant women at 35-37 gestational weeks was conducted from September 2011 to March 2014 in 21 municipalities of the 18th Health Region of Paraná State. Vaginal and anorectal samples of each woman were plated on sheep blood agar, and in HPTH and Todd-Hewitt enrichment broths. Results Of the 496 pregnant women, 141 (28.4%) were positive for GBS based on the combination of the three culture media with vaginal and anorectal samples. The prevalence was 23.7% for vaginal samples and 21.9% for anorectal ones. Among the variables analyzed in this study, only urinary infection was a significant factor (0.026) associated with GBS colonization in women. Conclusions Based on these results, health units should performs universal screening of pregnant women and hospitals should provide adequate prophylaxis, when indicated.