Gemeinschaftsmedizin und Gesundheitserziehung

Abstrakt

Standardization and Enrichment of Culture Medium Improve Detection of Group B Streptococci during Prepartum Screening

Leonardo Lodolo , Cinzia Rossi, Claudia Canale, Michelangelo Barbaglia, Giovanna Prandi, Paola Ghiotti4 , Iris Agreiter, Leonardo Pagani, Enrico Finale, Nino Cappuccia and Andrea Guala

The identification and treatment of infections by the stereptococco group B (GBS), or Streptococcus agalactiae in pregnancy, are meant to prevent potential clinical disorders such as endometritis and neonatal sepsis is early onset (EOD) and late (LOD). The purpose of the study was to analyze the methods of collection and cultivation of GBS in all microbiology laboratories of two Italian regions, Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta, in search of a correlation that could explain the remarkable rate variability of outcomes of the test. The study team analyzed 28491 test from 70 public and private laboratories of microbiology, and crossing data with regional registries of births, there was a positive test by an average of 14.6%, range between 2.4% and 22.6%. Further analysis has revealed that the laboratories used an enrichment broth culture showed a positive test of the 15.49% of the cases (±95% CI: 14.78 to 16.23%; range 10.7 to 22.60%), while the samples analyzed without enrichment broth showed a positivity of 10.53% (±95% CI: 10 to 11.08%; range from 2.40 to 20%) (p<0.0000001). The results show that the breach of the guidelines of microbiology generate a high rate of false negatives and how the enrichment broth can be the gold standard for the culture of GBS during pregnancy.