Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 May 29:16:11786361231174419.
doi: 10.1177/11786361231174419. eCollection 2023.

Vaginal Carriage of Group B Streptococcus (GBS) in Pregnant Women, Antibiotic Sensitivity and Associated Risk Factors in Dakar, Senegal

Ndeye Safietou Ngom  1 , Omar Gassama  2 , Assane Dieng  1 , Elhadji Bambo Diakhaby  1 , Serigne Mbaye Lo Ndiaye  1 , Alioune Tine  1 , Farba Karam  1 , Gora Lo  1 , Awa Ba-Diallo  1 , Cheikh Saad Bouh Boye  1 , Coumba Toure-Kane  1 , Abdoulaye Seck  3 , Halimatou Diop-Ndiaye  1 , Makhtar Camara  1
Affiliations

Vaginal Carriage of Group B Streptococcus (GBS) in Pregnant Women, Antibiotic Sensitivity and Associated Risk Factors in Dakar, Senegal

Ndeye Safietou Ngom et al. Microbiol Insights. .

Abstract

The eradication of neonatal Group B Streptococcus (GBS) infections, considered as a major public health priority, necessarily requires a mastery of the data on vaginal carriage in pregnant women. The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of vaginal carriage of GBS in pregnant women, antibiotic susceptibility, and associated risk factors. This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study conducted over a period of 9 months (July 2020 to March 2021) in pregnant women between 34 and 38 weeks of gestation (WG) followed at the Nabil Choucair health center in Dakar. Identification and antibiotic susceptibility of GBS isolates were performed on the Vitek 2 from vaginal swabs cultured on Granada medium. Demographic and obstetric interview data were collected and analyzed on SPSS (version 25). The level of significance for all statistical tests was set at P < .05. The search of GBS vaginal carriage had involved 279 women aged 16 to 46 years, with a median pregnancy age of 34 (34-37) weeks' gestation. GBS was found in 43 women, for a vaginal carriage rate of 15.4%. In 27.9% (12/43) of volunteers screened, this carriage was monomicrobial, while in 72.1% (31/43) of women, GBS was associated with other pathogens such as Candida spp. (60.5%), Trichomonas vaginalis (2.3%), Gardnerella vaginalis (34.9%) and/or Mobiluncus spp. (11.6%). The level of resistance was 27.9% (12/43) for penicillin G, 53.5% (23/43) for erythromycin, 25.6% (11/43) for clindamycin and 100% for tetracycline. However, the strains had retained fully susceptible to vancomycin and teicoplanin. The main risk factor associated with maternal GBS carriage were ectocervical inflammation associated with contact bleeding (OR = 3.55; P = .005). The high rate of maternal vaginal GBS carriage and the levels of resistance to the various antibiotics tested confirm the importance of continuous GBS surveillance in our resource-limited countries.

Keywords: Group B Streptococcus; Senegal; antibiotic resistance; associated risk factors; epidemiology; pregnant women.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Antibiotic resistance profile of GBS strains.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lawn JE, Bianchi-Jassir F, Russell NJ, et al. Group B streptococcal disease worldwide for pregnant women, Stillbirths, and children: Why, what, and how to undertake estimates? Clin Infect Dis. 2017;65:S89-S99. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Seale AC, Koech AC, Sheppard AE, et al. Maternal colonization with Streptococcus agalactiae and associated stillbirth and neonatal disease in coastal Kenya. Nat Microbiol. 2016;1(7):16067. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kwatra G, Cunnington MC, Merrall E, et al. Prevalence of maternal colonisation with group B Streptococcus: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Infect. Dis. 2016;16:1076-1084. - PubMed
    1. Hansen SM, Uldbjerg N, Kilian M, Sørensen UBS. Dynamics of Streptococcus agalactiae colonization in women during and after pregnancy and in their infants. J Clin Microbiol. 2004;42:83-89. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Parente V, Clark RH, Ku L, et al. Risk factors for group B streptococcal disease in neonates of mothers with negative antenatal testing. J Perinatol. 2017;37:157-161. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources