Invasive Group B Streptococcus Disease With Recurrence and in Multiples: Towards a Better Understanding of GBS Late-Onset Sepsis

• DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.617925
• Publication Date: 2021-06-02T21:49:46Z
• Authors: Mirjam Freudenhammer; Konstantinos Kara...; Kirsty Le Doare; Fabian Lander; Jakob Armann; Daniel Acero Moreno; Margaret Boyle; Horst Buxmann; Ruth Campbell; Victoria Chalker; Robert Cunney; Lorraine Doherty; Eleri Davies; Androulla Efstratiou; Roland Elling; Matthias Endmann; Jochen Essers; Roland Hentschel; Christine E. Jones; Steffen Kallsen; Georgia Kapatai; Marcus Krüger; Shamez Ladhani; Theresa Lamagni; Diane Lindsay; Mary Meehan; Catherine P. O’Su...; Darshana Patel; Arlene J. Reynolds; Claudia Roll; Sven Schulzke; Andrew Smith; Anja Stein; Axel von der Wense; Egbert Voss; Christian Wieg; Christoph Härtel; Paul T. Heath; Philipp Henneke
• Keywords: Group B; Neonatal Sepsis; Group A

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a common intestinal colonizer during the neonatal period, but also may cause late-onset sepsis or meningitis in up to 0.5% of otherwise healthy colonized infants after day 3 life. Transmission routes and risk factors this form invasive GBS disease (iGBS) are not fully understood. Cases iGBS with recurrence (n=25) those occurring parallel twins/triplets (n=32) from UK Ireland (national surveillance study 2014/15) Germany Switzerland (retrospective case collection) were analyzed unravel shared (in affected multiples) fixed recurrent disease) for disease. The among multiple births was high (17%), if one infant had already developed interval onset between siblings 4.5 days cases 12.5 days. Disturbances individual microbiome, including persistence infectious foci suggested e.g. by usage perinatal antibiotics mothers multiples, association an increased short term [aOR 4.2 (1.3-14.2), P=0.02]. Identical serotypes both infections concurrently infected multiples might indicate failed microbiome integration strains that generally regarded as commensals infants. dynamics concurrent suggest patterns exposure fluctuations host immunity, causing failure natural niche occupation.