RT Book, Section A1 Farley, Monica M. A2 Boulton, Matthew L. A2 Wallace, Robert B. SR Print(0) ID 1182668277 T1 Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B Streptococcal) Disease T2 Maxcy-Rosenau-Last Public Health & Preventive Medicine, 16e YR 2022 FD 2022 PB McGraw Hill PP New York, NY SN 9781259644511 LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1182668277 RD 2024/10/08 AB Streptococcus agalactiae, or Group B Streptococcus (GBS), was first identified as a pathogen in cattle, associated with bovine mastitis.1,2 Widespread recognition of GBS as a significant human pathogen occurred in the 1960sā€“1970s, when it emerged as the most common cause of neonatal sepsis and an important cause of bacterial meningitis in infants less than 3 months of age in the United States.3ā€“5 It was later shown that maternal colonization with GBS in the genital or gastrointestinal track represented the most important risk factor for early-onset (between 0 and 6 days of life) GBS disease in the newborn6,7 and that administration of intrapartum antibiotics to colonized women could prevent most cases of early-onset neonatal GBS infections.8,9 Consensus guidelines for the prevention of neonatal GBS disease, developed through collaboration between public health, academic investigators, and professional organizations including obstetricians and pediatricians, with the strong support of parent advocacy groups, were first published in 1996.10ā€“12 These guidelines, revised in 2002 to include universal screening of pregnant women for GBS colonization, resulted in dramatic declines in early-onset GBS disease in the United States.13 However, early-onset cases still occur and rates of late-onset GBS disease (between 7 and 89 days of life) have not declined despite relatively high uptake and implementation of the guidelines.14 At least ten capsular serotypes have been described; serotypes Ia, Ib, II, III, IV, and V are the most common in the United States.