A committee of the American associ...

A committee of the American association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has issued just discovered recommendations calling for universal screening of pregnant women for cluster B streptococci (GBS). Committee Opinion 279 appeared in the December 2002 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology

During the past sum of two units decades, GBS has emerged as a significant cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality. It is estimated that 10 to 30 percent of all pregnant women are colonized with the gram-positive organism.

Previously, ACOG and other readys had recommended two options for identifying women with GBS: either a refinement screening at 35 to 37 weeks of pregnancy or assessment of clinical risk factors at the time of labor. The change in recommendations come nexts new data from the Center for Disease repress and Prevention that show routine prenatal screening is significantly more effective than the risk-based approach, resulting in far fewer cases of early-onset GB disease in newborns. In light of the fresh data, the risk-based strategy, reject in certain circumstances, is no longer an acceptable alternative, the committee said.

COPYRIGHT 2003 American Academy of Family Physicians

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