title: A combined enrichment/polymerase chain reaction based method for the routine screening of Streptococcus agalactiae in pregnant women.
abstract: Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is the most common cause of life-threatening infection in neonates. Guidelines from CDC recommend universal screening of pregnant women for rectovaginal GBS colonization. The objective of this study was to compare the performance of a combined enrichment/PCR based method targeting the atr gene in relation to culture using enrichment with selective broth medium (standard method) to identify the presence of GBS in pregnant women. Rectovaginal GBS samples from women at ≥36 weeks of pregnancy were obtained with a swab and analyzed by the two methods. A total of 89 samples were evaluated. The prevalence of positive results for GBS detection was considerable higher when assessed by the combined enrichment/PCR method than with the standard method (35.9% versus 22.5%, respectively). The results demonstrated that the use of selective enrichment broth followed by PCR targeting the atr gene is a highly sensitive, specific and accurate test for GBS screening in pregnant women, allowing the detection of the bacteria even in lightly colonized patients. This PCR methodology may provide a useful diagnostic tool for GBS detection and contributes for a more accurate and effective intrapartum antibiotic and lower newborn mortality and morbidity.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Biologia Molecular em Doenças Auto-imunes e Infecciosas, Centro de Pesquisas, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre , Porto Alegre, RS , Brasil.
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Munari
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: De-Paris
authors.forename: G D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Salton
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Lora
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Giovanella
authors.forename: A B M P
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Laybauer
authors.forename: K R P
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ferri
authors.forename: J L S
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Silveira
authors.forename: C C F C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Laurino
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Xavier
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Barth
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Echeverrigaray
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Laurino
keywords: Accuracy; Group B Streptococcus; Screening test; Streptococcus agalactiae; atr gene
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