Evaluation of a Chromogenic Agar for Detection of Group B Streptococcus in Pregnant Women

group B streptococcus, with culture using neomycin-nalidixic acid agar (NNA) and LIM broth. STRB alone was more sensitive (87.7%) than NNA alone (79.0%), while each had a sensitivity of 100 % when used in conjunction with LIM broth. Meningitis, pneumonia, and septicemia due to group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection are leading causes of infant mortality and morbidity (7). In 1996 the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the CDC issued recommendations for intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis ac-cording to either a risk-based or a screening-based approach to prevent GBS transmission to neonates. The risk-based guide-lines called for intrapartum prophylaxis in the event of delivery at 37 weeks of gestation, a temperature of 100.4°F, or the rupture of membranes for 18 h, while the culture-based ap-proach called for the screening of all pregnant women between 35 and 37 weeks of gestation for vaginal or rectal colonizatio