Risk Factors for Group B <i>Streptococcus</i> Colonization and Drugs Sensitivity Pattern in a Nigerian Obstetric Population

• DOI: 10.4236/ojog.2021.116074
• Publication Date: 2021-06-23T02:24:49Z
• Authors: U. A. Ibrahim; A. A. Panti; Y. Mohammed; K. A. Tunau; A. Asma’u; J. G. Abubakar; A. A. Ladan
• Keywords: 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; 3. Good health

Background: Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a major cause of bacterial infections in the perinatal period, of which colonization prevalence among Northern-Nigerian pregnant women is scarce. We attempted to determine 1) its prevalence, 2) risk factors for GBS colonization and 3) drugs-susceptibility. Methodology: This cross-sectional study involved 185 pregnant women between 35 - 37 weeks of gestation at tertiary health center of Sokoto, Nigeria. Vaginal/rectal swabs were collected, were cultured for GBS and tested for drug-susceptibilities. The study was conducted between December, 2017 and April, 2018. Results: One hundred and eighty five (185) pregnant women participated in this study. GBS vaginal-colonization-rate was 3.8% (7/185). A significance relationship was observed between GBS-colonization and socio-economic class, as 57.10% (4/7) of the GBS positive women were of low-socio economic class (p 0.035). No associations were observed between GBS-colonization and the followings: maternal age, parity, poor obstetric outcome-history. All the 7 GBS positive cultures were sensitive to Clindamycin. One was sensitive to both Clindamycin and Ceftriaxone. None was sensitive to Penicillin. Conclusion: The prevalence of GBS colonization was low in this area. Maternal socio-economic class is found to be a risk of GBS-colonization.