Microbiological Clinical Specimen Testing Procedure

November 2014, The Lancet: Incidence of Group B Streptococcus in Neonates Soars

Incidence of invasive group B streptococcus disease and pathogen genotypedistribution in newborn babies in the Netherlands over 25 years: a nationwide surveillance study The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Volume 14, Issue

Canada Releases Guidelines on the Prevention of Early-Onset Group B Streptococcus Infection in Newborns

The Prevention of Early-Onset Neonatal Group B Streptococcal Disease (Replaces #61, June 1997) Prevention of Early-Onset Neonatal Group B Streptococcal Infection The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) published a revised guideline in October 2013 for the prevention of early-onset group B streptococcal infection in newborns.

An Exploration of GBS Prenatal Screening in China

Zou Li is a chief physician, professor, and doctoral supervisor at the Union Hospital, affiliated with Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology. She serves as the deputy chairperson of the Perinatal Medicine Society of the Hubei Provincial Medical Association, a member of the Obstetrics Group of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, a member of the Gestational Hypertension Disorders Group of the same branch, and the deputy chairperson of the Wuhan Branch of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Society of the Chinese Medical Association. She is also an editorial board member of journals including the Chinese Journal of Perinatal Medicine. The 9th Conference on Critical Obstetric Conditions (9th COCC) and the 2nd Conference on Normal Delivery (2nd CCND) were held in Wuhan, Hubei, from September 11 to 14, 2014, during the conference period…

U.S. CDC: Interpretation Series of the “2010 Guidelines for the Prevention of Perinatal Group B Streptococcus Infection” — Recommended Methods for Antenatal GBS Screening

Although the United States has made substantial progress in preventing perinatal Group B Streptococcus (GBS) disease since the 1990s, GBS remains the leading cause of early-onset neonatal sepsis in the country. In 1996, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), together with relevant professional societies, issued a series of guidelines to prevent perinatal GBS disease (CDC. Guidelines for the Prevention of Perinatal Group B Streptococcal Disease: Public Health MMWR 1996;45 No. RR-7); these were updated and republished in 2002 (CDC. Prevention of Perinatal Group B…).

Setting of Susceptibility Breakpoints and Their Clinical Implications

The breakpoint is a crucial component of modern microbiological testing, used to define a strain’s susceptibility or resistance to antimicrobial agents. Depending on the assay method, breakpoints may be expressed either as concentrations (mg/L or µg/mL) or as inhibition zone diameters (mm). In general, all antimicrobial susceptibility tests require breakpoints—also referred to as interpretive standards—to categorize results as susceptible, intermediate, or resistant and to communicate these findings to clinicians. Some experienced clinicians may prefer MIC values and pharmacokinetic–pharmacodynamic parameters of antimicrobial agents over breakpoints, in order to optimize drug selection and dosing. However, given the context of clinical microbiology assays…