By: Gabriel Mustelier Alvarez
In honor of monthly disease awareness, we want to bring to light four conditions or diseases per month from the list of health issues being displayed that month. For July among many others, Group B Streptococcus or GBS for short, is a common bacterium in the gastrointestinal and genital tracts of healthy adults. Now you may be asking, if its in healthy adults why is it an issue? Great question, GBS which is found in around 1 in 4 pregnant women carries severe infections for babies during childbirth if it’s passed from the mom.
The disease due to GBS being contracted by newborns can come in two ways. Early Onset GBS Disease (EOGBS) or Late Onset GBS Disease.
Early-Onset GBS disease occurs within the first 7 days of the baby’s birth, but usually is in no less than 24 hours. It occurs of course, in the vaginal tract as the baby makes its way out when the mother is in labor. The baby experiences symptoms like:
- Sepsis: The body responds to an infection out of control damaging its own organs which could be life threatening.
- Pneumonia: A lung infection that causes the alveoli or air sacs to be filled with fluids or pus. This makes it very difficult for adults to breathe and even more severe for infants and younger children.
- Meningitis: Inflammation in the protective membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cords.
This all makes visual signals of EOGBS like the baby having issues breathing, having pale or even bluish skin due to the lack of oxygen, poor feeding, limpness, fevers and even seizures in dire situations.
Late-Onset GBS disease is identified 7 days to 3 months after the infant is born. The baby experiences similar effects to EOGBS, but with an increased chance to experience Meningitis and bulging fontanelle which is a soft spot on the babies head.
There are certain cases where the infants are at a higher risk to get GBS from their mothers such as:
- Babies born in less than 37 weeks making them premature
- Babies born from labor lasting more than 18 hours
- Maternal Fever during labor
Thanks to medical innovations made to keep these sweet angels safe, routine GBS screenings are now performed between weeks 36 and 37 of a mother’s pregnancy. This is done by using a vaginal and rectal swab and it being cultured. Being cultured in the medical field means growing microorganisms like the GBS bacterium in order to identify it. If the screening comes positive, the mother is fed antibiotics like penicillin to prevent GBS from being transferred during labor. Though there isn’t any available vaccines yet, GBS vaccines for pregnant women are being researched and developed as we speak.
If things go wrong and GBS is contracted either way due to incorrect results from the screening or the antibiotics not working effectively, there are still solutions to help the infant going through early or late onset GBS. The newborns can be hospitalized and given antibiotics such as ampicillin or gentamicin in order to assist during recovery. High risk babies are also closely monitored or even given early treatment.
Something often overlooked is GBS affecting non-pregnant adults. The reason it’s overlooked is because they’re not often publicized even though the rate of it is increasing. According to CDC data, 90% of GBS cases actually occur in non-pregnant adults. It commonly occurs with older adults aged 65 and above experiencing diseases like diabetes, heart disease, cancer, obesity and immunocompromised conditions.
They experience symptoms like
- Bacteremia: A blood stream infection
- Sepsis
- Tissue infections
- Pneumonia
- Urinary tract infections
It’s not regularly screened like GBS for pregnant women and the symptoms can also vary in intensity making it often overlooked, but it shouldn’t be forgotten. It is a very real and growing medical concern especially in the aging population.
That’s the beauty of awareness months and bringing things to light. It helps ensure no one or nothing is forgotten allowing us to continue to progress as a species and as individuals. If you would like to contact our team on any other issues you’d like to bring to light please refer to our Contact Us page or our Instagram.
