title: Rapid detection of group B streptococci directly from vaginal swabs.
abstract: Duplicate vaginal swabs were obtained from patients who attended obstetric or gynecologic clinics affiliated with the Magee Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh. One swab was cultured semiquantitatively on 5% sheep blood agar to detect group B streptococci (GBS). The other swab was subjected to a rapid method (25 min) for antigen detection and micronitrous acid exposure to extract the GBS antigen, followed by latex particle agglutination. A total of 464 swabs were evaluated by direct plating. Fifty-two swabs (11.2%) were found to contain GBS. Overall, the rapid method detected 21 of 52, or 40.4%, positive specimens. The sensitivity of the rapid method for identifying the most heavily colonized samples was 85.7%. This method can be used to identify maternity patients who are heavily colonized with GBS and are at high risk of delivering septic infants.
mesh_terms: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007841:Latex Fixation Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D013292:Streptococcus agalactiae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014621:Vagina / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial