I don't know what's the occurence of GBS infections here
(must've missed the article in ST), or what the practice is, well
this Daily Mail article has some important information on it.
The following is an extract - don't you complain that it's too
long.
The next few days were a blur. Katie and Tony sat by Lauren's side
as their little baby battled for her life. At some point the blood
tests came back to show that Lauren had Streptococcus B septic
meningitis. (The effects to the baby can be read at the end of this
extract)
An aunt found a website run by a charity called Group B Strep
Support (GBSS), which explained that the bacterium is carried by
the mother and passed to the baby during labour.
The literature about StrepB infections in newborns makes for
chilling reading. Group B Streptococcus
(GBS) is the primary cause of bacterial infection in
newborns.
Every year around 700 are infected with it; 75 will die from
septicaemia caused by the bacteria.
For babies such as Lauren affected after four weeks - when the
bacterium usually presents itself as meningitis - the figures are
even more grim: around one in ten die and a third of the survivors
are left with significant brain damage.
GBS is passed immediately prior to or during birth, and can also
cause premature births, stillbirths and maternal infections
(putting the mother's health at serious risk).
What is so frightening is that a third of
pregnant women carry the bacterium but don't realise it. In fact a
third of all adults carry the GBS bacterium - it doesn't affect
them, but it is fatal for foetuses and babies.
It's not clear why some babies are more susceptible than others,
however, we do know that once a woman becomes a carrier, she
remains so for life.
But as Katie was to discover later, a simple swab test routinely
carried out in America and Australia in the latter stages of
pregnancy would have established she was a carrier.
She could have then decided whether or not she wanted to have
penicillin shots during the birth process, which would have all but
eradicated the danger both to her baby and herself.
She did not have that choice nor do many other mothers-to-be.
Although many women carry the StrepB bacterium, guidelines for
midwives do not make informing mothers an essential part of
antenatal care and, as a survey from Pregnancy and Birth Magazine
revealed, a shocking nine out of ten pregnant women had never heard
of the deadly bacterium.
This is all the more extraordinary because StrepB affects more
infants than Down's syndrome or spina bifida - and it is
treatable.
For while there is much public awareness about Down's and spina
bifida, the tests for these are essentially for information only -
the conditions can't be 'cured'. However, if a test reveals you
carry GBS, a simple dose of antibiotics should ensure that the baby
is unaffected.
...
(The test in America) be obtained privately at a cost of £32 (it's
been estimated it would cost the NHS around £10 to offer it).
This test should be performed around the
25th and 37th week of pregnancy and tests show it can indicate
likely infection for the next five weeks - up to and including term
delivery. (Women identified as carrying GBS are given a simple dose
of penicillin during labour.)
...
This practice has brought down the GBS infant infection rate by 75
per cent. In Australia, after routine screening in 1994, the rate
fell by 75 per cent and in Spain the rate was an even more dramatic
fall of 86 per cent.
...
While it is 'shocking' that so few women appear to have heard of
StrepB, it is not the testing that is the problem so much as what
happens next, says Patrick O'Brien, spokesman for the RCOG.
Testing positive means 'either that the mother will, during labour,
have to have a cannula inserted for the administration of
penicillin, or an injection every four hours'.
('There is a danger of an allergic reaction to penicillin from both
the mother and the baby.') Dr Heath's view is that having tested
positive not every woman will choose to have antibiotics. 'But the
point is she should be given the knowledge about whether or not she
is a carrier so that she can make the decision for herself.'
...
Katie remembers that a week after Lauren was admitted she was
stable enough to be sent for a CT brain scan. 'The next day the
paediatric consultant gave me the results.
'The outside of Lauren's brain should have been smooth and round.
Instead all around the edge were little depressions, as if someone
had taken an egg spoon and tapped their way around the exterior.
But although there was widespread damage, they didn't know exactly
how Lauren's recovery would be affected.'
...
Further MRI scans confirmed the earlier diagnosis. Lauren had
suffered brain damage which meant she would be blind, unable to use
her limbs, and would suffer from learning difficulties for the rest
of her life.