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. 2025 Aug 17;15(1):30047.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-15472-0.

High prevalence of penicillin-resistant group B Streptococcus among pregnant women in Northwest Ethiopia

Getaneh Alemayehu  1 , Alene Geteneh  2 , Mesfin Dessale  3 , Efrem Ayalew  4 , Geberselasie Demeke  5 , Alemayehu Reta  5 , Mulugeta Kiros  6
Affiliations

High prevalence of penicillin-resistant group B Streptococcus among pregnant women in Northwest Ethiopia

Getaneh Alemayehu et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a normal constituent of the female genital and gastrointestinal flora but remains a leading cause of perinatal bacterial infections, including endometritis, bacteremia, chorioamnionitis, and urinary tract infections in pregnant women. In Ethiopia, reported GBS colonization rates among pregnant women range from 7.2 to 25.5%. This study aimed to determine the prevalence, antimicrobial susceptibility patterns, and associated factors of GBS colonization among pregnant women attending antenatal care (ANC) at Debre Markos Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia. An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March 1 to May 30, 2021. After obtaining written consent, sociodemographic data were collected using a structured questionnaire, conveniently. A total of 210 recto-vaginal swabs were collected, inoculated into Todd-Hewitt broth, and sub-cultured on 5% blood agar. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using the disk diffusion method following Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute 2020 guidelines. Data were entered and cleaned in Epi Data version 3.1 and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Binary logistic regression identified associations between variables, with a P value ≤ 0.05 considered statistically significant. The overall GBS colonization was 13.3% (28/210). Married women had significantly higher odds of colonization (AOR 5.774; 95% CI 1.074-31.03; P = 0.041), while those with a history of abortion had lower odds (AOR 0.294; 95% CI 0.102-0.850; P = 0.024). Most isolates were susceptible to chloramphenicol (96.4%). Resistance rates were highest for erythromycin (71.4%) and penicillin (67.9%), followed by ampicillin (64.3%), azithromycin (46.4%), vancomycin (46.4%), and ceftriaxone (32.1%). Half of the isolates were multidrug-resistant. GBS colonization among pregnant women in the study area warrants clinical attention due to its associated high antibiotic resistance. Being married and abortion had statistically significant associations with colonization. Therefore, clinicians could implement routine GBS screening for all pregnant women attending ANC to reduce GBS colonization. Routine GBS screening may help reduce neonatal sepsis, pneumonia, and meningitis by guiding timely intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis.

Keywords: Antimicrobial susceptibility; Debre Markos; Ethiopia; Group B Streptococcus; Pregnant women; Prevalence.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study was conducted after ethical approval was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee of Debre Markos University, College of Health Sciences, and the Amhara Regional Health Bureau. All information collected from participants was coded to ensure confidentiality, and no names were recorded. Positive results were communicated to physicians for appropriate care. The code key and paper files were securely stored in a locked cabinet, while electronic data were password-protected and accessible only to the principal investigator. This study adhered to the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki for research involving human participants. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to enrollment in the study.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow of chart for the identification of GBS.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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