Minimization of the number of pregnant women to be treated with preventive procedure against GBS infection by means of antibody measurement

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Abstract
To study preventive strategies, it is essential to screen pregnant women having group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection in the birth canal. For the purpose of studying preventive measures against this infection, nationwide multicenter research was performed in GBS‐carrying pregnant women. Of a total of 10 267 pregnant women, 1860 cases (18.1%) had GBS. The most common serotypes of detected GBS were type NT6 and JM9, followed by type III, type Ia and then type Ib. Type‐specific antibody titer was below the cut‐off point of 10 units/mL in 30.9% of Ia carriers, 58.5% of Ib carriers, 45.9% of II carriers and 32.9% of III carriers. Fortunately, no neonatal GBS infection occurred during this research. We concluded that 18.1% of studied pregnant women were GBS carriers and one‐third of these GBS carriers required preventive procedures with antibody measurement.