Hindawi Publishing Corporation Infectious Diseases in Obstetrics and Gynecology Volume 2010, Article ID 451096, 4 pages doi:10.1155/2010/451096 Research Article Screening for Group B Streptococcus: A Private Hospital’s Experience Sebastian Faro,1 Brenda Brehm,2 Frances Smith,3 Melanie Mouzoon,3 Anthony Greisinger,2 Oscar Wehmanen,2 and Mark A. Turrentine3 1 The Woman’s Hospital of Texas, 7600 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77054, USA 2 Kelsey Research Foundation, 5615 Kirby Drive, Suite 660, Houston, TX 77005, USA 3 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, 7900 Fannin Street Suite 2100, Houston, TX 77054, USA Correspondence should be addressed to Brenda Brehm, brenda.brehm@kelsey-seybold.com Received 18 March 2010; Accepted 20 May 2010 Academic Editor: Bryan Larsen Copyright © 2010 Sebastian Faro et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Objective. To assess the eﬀect of universal screening and administration of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent early- onset neonatal GBS sepsis at a private tertiary care hospital since issuance of the 2002 CDC guidelines for preventing perinatal GBS disease. Methods. Retrospective analysis of women delivering between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2004 at a private tertiary care hospital in Houston, Texas. The percentage of women screened, GBS positive women receiving intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis, and infants developing early-onset GBS sepsis were determined. Results. 2,108 women delivered 2,135 infants with 1,874 (89%) screened for GBS. Of those screened, 1,322 (71%) tested negative and 552 (29%) tested positive for GBS. In this analysis of 2,135 infants, 3 (0.94 cases/1,000 live births) were diagnosed with invasive GBS sepsis. Conclusion. High rates of screening of pregnant women for GBS colonization and use of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis for GBS carriers can be achieved in a private tertiary care hospital setting. “Synopsis: High screening rates for group B streptococcus in a private tertiary care hospital reduce the incidence of maternal and early onset neonatal GBS infection.” 1. Introduction Streptococcus agalactiae (group B streptococcus (GBS)) is one of the most common bacterial causes of life-threatening infection in newborns [1, 2]. GBS was ﬁrst reported as a human pathogen in 1938, but it was not until the 1970s that GBS was described as a major pathogen responsible for neonatal sepsis, pneumonia, and meningitis [3]. GBS neonatal infection is divided into two categories: early- onset disease, which occurs within the ﬁrst week of life, and late-onset infection, which occurs between one week to 3 months of age [4]. GBS vaginal colonization occurs in 4% to 40% of pregnant and nonpregnant women and appears to be dependent upon geographical location [5– 9]. The GBS bacterium also may lead to chorioamnionitis, myonecrosis of the uterus, neonatal pneumonia, premature delivery, premature labor, premature rupture of amniotic membranes, postpartum endometritis, and septic abortion [10–14]. Furthermore, both mother and newborn infant may experience bacteremia, which can cause both septic shock and death. Prior to extensive prevention eﬀorts in the 1990s, the incidence of invasive neonatal GBS infection ranged from 2 to 3 cases per 1,000 live births [12]. In 1996, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued guidelines recommending the use of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis and by 1999, the incidence of early-onset GBS infection was reduced to 0.5 cases per 1,000 live births [12]. In 2002, in order to further decrease the incidence of GBS sepsis, the CDC issued revised guidelines that recommended universal screening of pregnant women between 35 and 37 weeks of gestation [12]. However, GBS infection continues to be a considerable problem, causing signiﬁcant morbidity and mortality in mothers and their newborn infants. The CDC reported for the period 2000–2002, the average early-onset