GBS (group B strep) vaccine coming... for pregnant women in the 3rd trimester.

[Guest guest]

And of course down the road this will be on the schedule for infants too, they

might get pregnant, kwim? Or we have to wipe out group B strep just like HiB

needed to be wiped out....

I'm glad I'm done being pregnant, it was hard enough to hear all the pressure

about flu shots and TdaPs in pregnancy these days (though I was at a birthing

center so no pressure, just the darn media)...

http://news./antibiotics-pregnancy-may-shield-newborns-strep-b-14040643\

6.html

THURSDAY, Jan. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Giving antibiotics to pregnant women at

risk of streptococcus B infection greatly reduces infection rates in newborns,

according to a new study.

Use of antibiotics to prevent group B strep is common in high-income nations and

should also be used in developing countries, at least until a vaccine becomes

available, said study author Dr. Edmond, of the London School of Hygiene

and Tropical Medicine in England, and colleagues.

The researchers analyzed dozens of previous studies and found that the mean

global incidence of group B strep infection in infants up to 3 months old was

0.53 per 1,000 live births and the mean death rate was 10 percent.

Africa had the highest incidence (1.21 cases per 1,000 live births) and death

rate (22 percent). Incidence in the Americas [0.67 per 1,000 live births] and

Europe [0.57 per 1,000 live births] was also higher than the global average. The

death rate was 11 percent in the Americas and 7 percent in Europe.

Worldwide, the death rate for early-onset group B strep infection -- occurring

the first week of life -- was 12 percent, twice that of later-onset disease.

Sixty-nine percent of the studies reported use of any preventive antibiotic

treatment in the time between labor and delivery (intrapartum). Rates of

early-onset disease were three times lower in studies that reported preventive

use of antibiotics than those that did not report such use.

The study appears in the Jan. 5 issue of The Lancet.

The most common strep B serotype in all regions was serotype III (49 percent),

followed by serotypes Ia (23 percent), Ib (7 percent), II (6 percent), and V (9

percent).

The distribution of strains of strep B appears similar worldwide, which means

that vaccines currently in development could have near-universal applicability,

according to the researchers.

" A conjugate vaccine incorporating five serotypes (Ia, Ib, II, III, V) could

prevent most global group B streptococcal disease, " they wrote in a journal news

release. Phase 3 trials of vaccines will soon begin in Africa, they said.

" Vaccination of pregnant women also has the potential to reduce premature

births, stillbirths, and puerperal sepsis [a toxic condition] caused by group B

streptococcus, " the researchers said.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about group B strep

infections in newborns.