Following delivery, the symptoms of a uterine infection include fever, abdominal pain and rapid pulse. With antibiotic treatment, such an infection usually subsides within a few days. A urinary-tract infection also may result from GBS and should be treated during pregnancy with oral antibiotics. Symptoms of a urinary-tract infection include fever, and pain and burning during urination. Women with a urinary-tract infection caused by GBS also should be treated with intravenous antibiotics during labor and delivery, since they are likely to have high levels of the bacterium in their bodies.
Researchers continue to study the effectiveness of the recommended approaches.
Birth Defects Foundation have supported research aimed at developing a vaccine, to be given to pregnant women, that could prevent GBS infection in mothers and their babies. Several such vaccines are currently being worked on. Researchers also are seeking to develop highly accurate rapid screening tests that can be used during labor. While rapid tests are available now, they detect only about 40 percent of women who carry GBS, so they are not yet very useful in identifying women who should receive antibiotic treatment in labor. When developed, rapid tests that provide more accurate identification will enable health care providers to give antibiotic treatment only to those women who need it.