It is not unusual for some healthy women to harbor Group B streptococcus bacteria in their rectum and vagina. These microorganisms do not usually cause disease when few in number, but when they grow in number and colonize these areas, bacterial infection can become severe.
A woman who is pregnant and tests positive for Group B strep or GBS may pass the bacteria to her baby during childbirth. GBS affects one out of 2,000 newborns in the US although not all babies born to GBS-positive mothers become ill. Doctors may routinely test pregnant women for GBS during their prenatal visits even if this type of infection is rare because severe outcomes can occur.
Why Is a Group B Strep Test Needed?
Although harmless to most adults, pregnant women may experience health problems associated with these bacteria, which can cause:
UTI or urinary tract infection
Chorioamnionitis (infection of the amniotic fluid and placenta)
Bacteremia (infection of the blood)
Sepsis (severe, widespread infection)
After normal delivery, GBS can also lead to infection of the inner lining (endometrium) of the uterus. For mothers who deliver by C-section, wound infection risk is increased.
A prenatal test for group B strep may also be done to protect a baby from exposure to the bacteria during normal childbirth. Although not all babies develop infection, affected babies could suffer from severe complications immediately or even sometime after birth. These life-threatening complications include:
Pneumonia (lung infection and inflammation)
Meningitis (infection of the membranes covering the brain)
Bacteremia
Sepsis
Women who test positive for GBS are usually given antibiotics during childbirth to eliminate bacteria in their birth canals. However, there is no ben...
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...et a late-onset GBS infection are delivered by GBS carriers, while others are infected through unknowm mechanisms. Prevention of the disease is therefore difficult.
Research on developing a vaccine that can prevent maternal and neonatal GBS infection is underway. More studies on testing and treatment for the disease are also being done.
Watch a video to learn more about Group B Strep Test (GBS) test: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V4XADC89p8
Summary
Group B strep test is a prenatal screening test to find out if a woman is carrying certain streptococcal bacteria, which could cause maternal and neonatal infection. It is important to prevent infection, since it can cause severe complications.
Works Cited
http://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancycomplications/groupbstrepinfection.html
http://www.babycenter.com/0_group-b-streptococcus-screening_1647.bc?showAll=true
Streptococcus pyogenes is a very common bacteria found in humans. It is very transmissible and can be caught through the air via coughing or sneezing. This form of Strep. illness is referred to as Streptococcal pharyngitis, also known as Strep. throat, which can complicate into Scarlet Fever. It is also possible to be infected through abrasions of the skin, which can result in cellulitis, impetigo, or even necrotizing fasciitis. Aside from human to human contact, these bacteria can also be found in unpasteurized milk. There is no vaccine for Streptococcal infections, though antibiotics such as penicillin still work very well against them.
our everyday lives bacteria is constantly surrounding us, some of the bacterium that we encounter are beneficial to us but then there are the ones that are severely detrimental to our health. The way that they effect a persons body can differ from person to person. Many of the “microscopic foes” are very resilient and have a very fast reproduction rate. Not only do they reproduce quickly they sometimes seem to outsmart our immune system and not allow our bodies to fight the infection making it almost impossible to stop them. One thing that a lot if people rely on is the assistance of prescription drugs to get them better but even the drugs are not being effective and we can’t stop the pathogens from invading our personal places such as work, home, school, or anywhere. Even though modern medicine is advancing the pathogens could still get the get the best of us. The scary thing is we never know when the next pandemic or epidemic is going to arise. All it needs is some ordinary microbe to swap genes with a deadly germ to produce a “super pathogen” and it could happen to anyone, anywhere, as it did to Jeannie Brown who is from “our neck of the woods”.
“Children are our most valuable resource and are our future,” according to Herbert Hoover. In order to have children, we must have healthy mothers to bear and deliver those children. Pregnancy is, of course, a difficult time with physical changes and discomfort. However, sometimes pregnancy also brings life threatening physical changes for the mother. One of these is Thrombocytopenia, a disorder related to a low platelets count. It affects many women during the pregnancy. If not treated, it can cause preeclampsia and lead to death to the mother or fetus. Human reproduction is necessary for the continuation of the human race, but thrombocytopenia threatens the continued health of mothers. This makes thrombocytopenia very important and necessary disorder to study and investigate.
others heal. When a baby is born to a woman who has active genital herpes
If this happens, the embryo may be implanted in the tube, causing a tubal pregnancy. This serious complication results in a miscarriage and can cause death of the mother. Rarely, untreated gonorrhea can spread through the blood to the joints. Gnorrhea is treated with antibiotic drugs taken orally or by injection.
The child that I tested will be referred to as K.L. I tested her on April 14th 2016. K.L. is 2 years old, with her exact age being 2 years 9 months and 14 days. I called and asked her mother if she would mind dropping K.L. off with me for a few hours so I could perform the test, and then pick her back up after the test was complete. This test more accurate when the caregiver is not present. K.L. has a step sister and a baby brother on the way. She has always been in the daycare setting, because her grandmother is a provider. K.L. was delivered full term via planned cesarean section due to her mother’s small pelvis. There was no complications during this pregnancy. K.L. weighted 8 lbs. 4 oz. and was 20 ½ inches long at birth, now weighting in at ...
Although there is no known prevention for this disease it recommended for the mother to follow not put the growing fetus at any harm like smoking or drinking while pregnant and to regularly have checks with the doctor.
The idea behind vaccines is to provide the body with just enough of the disease-causing substance to trick the body into producing antibodies against it. By injecting weak or dead infectious agents through the skin, it’s believed that the body will create the appropriate immune defense. Infants come into the world with antibodies they have gotten from their mother through the placenta. Infants who are breastfed continue to receive many important antibodies in the colostrum (the thick, yellowish premilk that is secreted during the first few days after a woman gives birth) and breast milk. During the first year of life, the immunity an infant gets from its mother at birth wears off. To help boost the fading ability to fight certain diseases, vaccines are given. Once the antibodies are produced, they stay around, protecting the child against the disease they were designed to fight.
can be prevented by a vaccine. In 20 - 30% of the cases the infection spreads
Bacterial vaginosis is known to be the most common cause of abnormal vaginal discharge in women of childbearing age (Hay, 2010). Bacterial vaginosis is the result of the substitution of normal vaginal lactobacilli with anaerobic bacteria Gardnerella vaginalis and Prevotella, Peptostreptococcus and Bacteroides spp., which will result loss of the normal vaginal acidity (Turovskiy, Sutyak Noll, & Chikindas, 2010). Bacterial vaginosis is the main trigger of vaginal discharge or malodor in women (Hainer & Gibson, 2011). Studies specify that most women diagnosed with bacterial vaginosis are unaware of the infection; however, the fishy odor smell that accompanies this infection is usually a hallmark for its diagnosis (Hainer & Gibson, 2011).
second, prenatal testing, is a testing of a fetus at risk for the disease. The
Bacterial bladder infections may occur in women as a result of sexual intercourse. But even sexually inactive girls and women are susceptible to lower urinary tracts infections because the female genital area often harbors bacteria that can cause cystitis.
...For pregnancy detection, companies producing at home detection tests may want to incorporate detection of hCG-H for greater accuracy in their results. This would allow for optimal detection of pregnancy even before the time of missed menses. For hCG-H testing to be used to clinically determine pregnancy outcome, other laboratories would need to evaluate their own set of data to be able to properly determine if the 13ug/L cut off point found by Sutton-Riley et al. (2006) is viable. Studies would have to take many factors into account including age, race, overall health, and so on, to properly determine what normal values are. Detecting hyperglycosylated human chorionic gonadotropin is changing the way we now look at pregnancies and pregnancy loss. With further research, its full applications in pregnancy outcome and detection are becoming closer to being realized.
Tell your doctor your symptoms or if you have been exposed to genital herpes. When delivering your baby you could possible give it herpes even if you don’t have any kind of outbreak. If your doctor knows you have herpes a C-section is usually performed. Sometimes genital herpes can lead to having a miscarriage. Or you can deliver your baby earlier than expected.
Sepsis is a “cunning, insidious and non-specific illness” (Raynor, 2012) but progression can be rapturous with a sudden catastrophic circulatory collapse and mortality up to 50%. (Angus et al., 2001) Over five million cases arise per year of maternal sepsis, resulting in an estimated 62,000 maternal deaths globally (WHO, 2008) During the 18th and 19th century, puerperal sepsis resulted in 50% of maternal deaths over Europe (Loudon, 2000). The World Health Organisation (WHO) defined puerperal sepsis as ‘infection of the genital tract occurring at any time between the rupture of membranes or labour, and the 42nd day postpartum, of which two or more of the following are present: pelvic pain, fever 38.5C or more, abnormal vaginal discharge, abnormal smell of discharge, and delay in the rate of reduction of size of uterus (less than 2 cm a day during the first 8 days)’ (WHO, 1992).