Association of sexually-transmitted infection and African-American race with Streptococcus agalactiae colonization in pregnancy

• Published in: Antimicrobial resistance & infection control 2020-11, Vol.9 (1), p.174-174, Article 174
• Main Authors: Capraro, Gerald A, Lala, Sajel, Khaled, Khaldia, Gosciniak, Elizabeth, Saadat, Brianna, Alvarez, Sarah M, Kumar, Seema, Calhoun, Tara, Landry, Edward, Caldito, Gloria, Bocchini, Jr, Joseph A, Vanchiere, John A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: African Americans; Age; Analysis; Antibacterial agents; Antibiotics; Azithromycin; Chlamydia infections; Colonization; Disease control; Disease transmission; Drug resistance; Epidemiology; Group B Streptococcus; Inducible clindamycin resistance; Infection; Laboratories; Medical records; Meningitis; Microbial drug resistance; Multivariate analysis; Pregnancy; Pregnant women; Regression analysis; Risk factors; Sexually transmitted diseases; Sexually transmitted infections; STD; Streptococcus infections; Variables; Womens health
• ISSN: 2047-2994; 2047-2994
• DOI: 10.1186/s13756-020-00827-1

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) remains a significant cause of neonatal infection, but the maternal risk factors for GBS colonization remain poorly defined. We hypothesized that there may be an association between antibiotic exposure during pregnancy and GBS colonization and/or the presence of inducible clindamycin resistance (iCLI-R) in GBS isolates from GBS-colonized pregnant women. A retrospective cohort study was performed at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center - Shreveport including demographic and clinical data from 1513 pregnant women who were screened for GBS between July 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010. Among 526 (34.8%) women who screened positive for GBS, 124 (23.6%) carried GBS strains with iCLI-R (GBS-iCLI-R). While antibiotic exposure, race, sexually-transmitted infection (STI) in pregnancy, GBS colonization in prior pregnancy and BMI were identified as risk factors for GBS colonization in univariate analyses, the only independent risk factors for GBS colonization were African-American race (AOR = 2.142; 95% CI = 2.092-3.861) and STI during pregnancy (AOR = 1.309; 95% CI = 1.035-1.653). Independent risk factors for GBS-iCLI-R among women colonized with GBS were non-African-American race (AOR = 2.13; 95% CI = 1.20-3.78) and younger age (AOR = 0.94; 95% CI = 0.91-0.98). Among GBS-colonized women with an STI in the current pregnancy, the only independent risk factor for iCLI-R was Chlamydia trachomatis infection (AOR = 4.31; 95% CI = 1.78-10.41). This study identified novel associations for GBS colonization and colonization with GBS-iCLI-R. Prospective studies will improve our understanding of the epidemiology of GBS colonization during pregnancy and the role of antibiotic exposure in alterations of the maternal microbiome.