Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a type of bacteria that can cause serious illness and sometimes death, especially in newborn infants and the elderly. Phyla/Divisions Actinobacteria Aquificae Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi Chlamydiae/Verrucomicrobia Chloroflexi Chrysiogenetes Cyanobacteria Deferribacteres Deinococcus-Thermus Dictyoglomi Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria Firmicutes Fusobacteria Gemmatimonadetes Nitrospirae Planctomycetes Proteobacteria Spirochaetes Thermodesulfobacteria Thermomicrobia Thermotogae Bacteria (singular, bacterium) are a major group of living organisms. ... Death is the cessation of physical life in a living organism or the state of the organism after that event. ...

GBS bacteria can be passed from a pregnant women who is a carrier for the bacteria to her baby during labor. Since the bacteria can come and go, testing for GBS is needed every pregnancy. Toward the end of a pregnancy, the vagina and rectum are cultured with a swab at a prenatal appointment. Women with GBS are given an antibiotic during labor. Evidence based research studies show that using this test can reduce infant infections. A pregnant woman Pregnancy is the process by which a mammalian female carries a live offspring from conception until it develops to the point where the offspring is capable of living outside the womb. ... In general, a carrier is a system or process with a specific property or is attributed of something (in physical or in abstract sense). ... Complete external female genital anatomy Human female internal reproductive anatomy. ... The posterior aspect of the rectum exposed by removing the lower part of the sacrum and the coccyx. ... Prenatal means before birth (is widely used in biology). ... An antibiotic is a drug that kills or slows the growth of bacteria. ... Evidence has several meanings as indicated below. ... Research is an active, diligent, and systematic process of inquiry in order to discover, interpret or revise facts, events, behaviours, or theories, or to make practical applications with the help of such facts, laws, or theories. ... An infection is the detrimental colonization of a host organism by a foreign species. ...

External links

Prevention of Perinatal Group B Streptococcal Disease August 16, 2002 MMWR 2000;49:228-232.