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Despite preventive campaigns, group B Streptococcus (GBS) remains the leading cause of early-onset neonatal sepsis in the U.S. The CDC has been at the forefront in developing and promoting guidelines (last released in 2002) for preventing perinatal GBS disease; recent updates to these guidelines encompass several alterations and clarifications.
Highlights of the revised guidelines include:
GBS prophylaxis is not indicated before cesarean deliveries performed before onset of labor in women with intact membranes, irrespective of fetal gestational age.
For women with unknown GBS status, negative intrapartum nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) screening results should only be used in the absence of risk factors for GBS; if risk factors devel…