Abstract:
Objectives To determine the incidence, clinical
presentation and outcome of group B haemolytic
streptococcal (GBS) sepsis
Design, setting and method This was a two year
retrospective observational analysis at Colombo South
Teaching hospital. All clinically suspected and
bacteriologically confirmed cases of GBS sepsis in
infants up to three month of age were analysed. Data
was obtained from individual clinical notes and
records at the Department of Microbiology.
Results There were 21 cases, an incidence of 1.06 per
1000 live births. Thirteen (62%) were male. Seven
(33%) were premature. Thirteen (62%) were early
onset and 08 (38%) were late onset. Main presenting
features on admission were respiratory 11 (52%), poor
activity/feeding 09 (43%) and fever 08 (38%).
Complications were mainly neurological (48%)
Mortality was 4.7 %.
Introduction
Group B beta haemolytic streptococcal (GBS)
infection in early infancy is a serious disease with
significant morbidity and mortality1,2,3. Incidence and
prevalence of GBS disease vary among institutions
and countries3,4,5,6. A significant reduction of GBS
infection has been observed in many studies after
introduction of guidelines for prevention3,4,7,8
.
However, studies on GBS infection are scarce in Sri
Lanka. In our institute during 2007, we observed a
considerable number of cases with GBS, having a
serious course of illness with complications. This
observation prompted us to proceed with this study.
