HG Group B Streptococcus 

                                                                                                                                                                           For Rapid & Confident Decision Making 

GROUP B STREPTOCOCCUS

Direct Detection Of Group B Streptococcus

• Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is the most common infectious cause of neonatal meningitis 1, and can also give rise to septicaemia and pneumonia. Approximately 25% of pregnant women carry the bacterium in the vagina or the rectum. Infection may be asymptomatic, but GBS can be transmitted to a child during gestation or labour, with fatal consequences in up to 9% of cases. Up to 30% of survivors suffer permanent disabilities, such as blindness and deafness.
• As transmission of GBS can be prevented by administering antibiotics prior to delivery, some countries have implemented screening programmes to identify women who require intrapartum antibiotic treatment. This screening is typically performed using cell culture with an enrichment step, which can take up to 48 hours in total. As infection can be transient and intermittent, it is clearly preferable to screen pregnant women as close to delivery as possible, but the turnaround time for the culture method is not suitable for this application.
• The HG Group B Streptococcus assay detects bacterial DNA from vaginal and rectal swabs. This test is highly sensitive and specific, includes a quick and simple lysis step for extraction of bacterial DNA from swabs, and gives results in less than 30 minutes. With a stabilised reagent mix and minimal assay steps, this assay brings simple, cost-effective testing for GBS within the scope of both well resourced and less well resourced laboratories.