Gaurav Kwatra, Marianne C Cunnington, Elizabeth Merrall, Peter V Adrian, Margaret Ip, Keith P Klugman, Wing Hung Tam, Shabir A Madhi
BACKGROUND: The most important risk factor for early-onset (babies younger than 7 days) invasive group B streptococcal disease is rectovaginal colonisation of the mother at delivery. We aimed to assess whether differences in colonisation drive regional differences in the incidence of early-onset invasive disease. METHODS: We did a systematic review of maternal group B streptococcus colonisation studies by searching MEDLINE, Embase, Pascal Biomed, WHOLIS, and African Index Medicus databases for studies published between January, 1997, and March 31, 2015, that reported the prevalence of group B streptococcus colonisation in pregnant women...
September 2016: Lancet Infectious Diseases