Background: Group B streptococcus (GBS) is commonly recognized as an opportunistic pathogen,
which can cause infections in pregnant women and their newborns. The aim of this
study was to explore the invasiveness of GBS by comparing various indices of
pregnant mothers and newborns.
Methods: This retrospective study involved 6892 consecutive GBS screened
pregnant women, and 48 GBS-positive newborns. The data of pregnant women and
newborns was compared by Chi-square test and Kruskal-Wallis test. A
p-value 0.05 was considered statistically
significant. Results: After
excluding the other risk factors which can cause adverse pregnancy outcomes,
there were no differences between pregnant women in GBS-positive and GBS-negative
groups, except the age group. In the GBS-negative and positive groups the
incidence of prematurity, premature rupture of membranes (PROM), and
chorioamnionitis were 1.06% and 0.74%, 7.72% and 8.14%, 0.63% and 0.74%,
respectively. The corresponding p-values were 0.619, 0.263, and 0.626.
The GBS-positive rate was 6.83% (201/2943) in the 19–30 years (y) group,
6.89% in the (262/3802) in the 31–40 y group, and 1.36% (2/147)
in the 41–52 y group (p = 0.031). The indices in the
different newborn groups exhibited significant differences. Analysis of the data
revealed significant differences in delivery mode, gestational age, neonatal
birth weight, and Apgar scores among the GBS-colonization, GBS-infection, and
death groups (p = 0.010, 0.004, 0.022, and 0.000 0.05,
respectively). Conclusions: After excluding related factors, the
evidence showing that GBS-colonization independently induced adverse pregnancy
outcomes in pregnant women was insufficient. GBS was more likely to attack
premature newborns with low weight and poor health status.
