title: Frequency of Group B Streptococci in Pregnant Women in a Tertiary Care Hospital.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the frequency and risk factors of Group B Streptococci (GBS) in pregnant patients in third trimester in a tertiary care hospital in Lahore.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional, prospective study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Lady Willingdon Hospital, Lahore, from October 2014 to March 2015.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sterile lower vaginal swabs were taken from 200 women aged 20 years and over, in third trimester, with no history of vaginal bleeding, ruptured membrane, recent intake of antibiotics or chronic illness. These swabs were cultured for detection of GBS. The risk factors of GBS and its frequency were noted in the pregnant population. Quantitative and qualitative data was analyzed by SPSS version 20. Chi-square test was applied to see association between diagnosis of GBS and other categorical variables. P-value ≤0.05 was considered as statistically significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study, the mean age of all the females was 26.36 ± 4.32 years and mean duration of pregnancy was 35.54 ± 2.65 weeks. Frequency of GBS in pregnant women was found as 14%. We observed significant association of GBS with parity and previous history of miscarriage (p-value = 0.033 and 0.010 respectively). Moreover, significant association between vaginal discharge and GBS was also found (p = 0.027).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  GBS is present in a small but significant number of pregnant women in our setting and it has association with multiparity, vaginal discharge during pregnancy, and previous history of miscarriage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, King Edward Medical University (KEMU), Lahore.
authors.forename: Shamila Ijaz
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Munir
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, King Edward Medical University (KEMU), Lahore.
authors.forename: Khadija
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Waheed
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, King Edward Medical University (KEMU), Lahore.
authors.forename: Amna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khanum
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, King Edward Medical University (KEMU), Lahore.
authors.forename: Riffat
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Iqbal
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, King Edward Medical University (KEMU), Lahore.
authors.forename: Amna Zia
authors.initials: AZ
authors.lastname: Eusaph
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Gulab Devi Hospital, Lahore.
authors.forename: Asif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hanif
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013292:Streptococcus agalactiae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D063128:Tertiary Health Care; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents