Group B strep is a common bacterium found in the urinary tract of pregnant women. During the pregnancy, women get screened for the presence of this bacterium. Health care providers administer antibodies during the delivery to prevent infection of the newborn if group B strep is found. Even with these preventive measures, group B strep can still infect infants during the birthing process and cause several effects.
Bacteremia
Bacteremia is a blood-borne infection. This can lead to sepsis, an infection where the bloodstream is overwhelmed with bacteria. Infants with group B strep can develop early-onset and late-onset infection. Babies with sepsis can have nonspecific symptoms like feeding difficulty, temperature instability, vomiting, lethargy, irregular heart rate and respiratory difficulty. Once babies become septic their heart rate can sky rocket and they can have respiratory failure with inadequate breathing patterns, cyanosis (blue tinge around the lips due to poor oxygen supply in the blood) and apnea (pauses in respiration). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, group B strep sepsis can result in coma and death. Most infants get treated aggressively with antibiotics at the earliest sign of infection, especially if there is a history of maternal group B strep infection.
Meningitis
The CDC also reports that group B strep can cause meningitis in infants. This is a condition of infection and inflammation of the meninges, the thin layer of tissues that covers the brain and the central nervous system. Group B strep meningitis usually presents late, between one and three months after initial exposure to the bacterium. Babies with group B strep meningitis can present with irritability and be inconsolable, have poor feeding skills, lethargy and other changes in mental status. Infants can suffer from increased intracranial pressure due to the infection, presenting with an enlarged head and bulging fontanel, the soft spot in the skull. Meningitis is diagnosed by performing a spinal tap, a procedure in which a small needle is introduce in between the vertebra of the lower back to extract the spinal fluid.
Pneumonia
Occasionally, infants with group B strep can develop pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection of the lung's tissues. Infants with pneumonia present with difficulty breathing, hypoxia (decreased oxygen content in the blood), rapid breathing, retractions (pulling in of the abdominal and chest muscles), grunting and head bobbing. According to the Merck Manuals, infants in severe respiratory distress due to pneumonia may need mechanical ventilator support in a neonatal intensive care unit.
