STREPTOCOCCUS AGALACTIAE CARRIAGE RATE AMONG WOMEN OF CHILDBEARING AGE AND ITS ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONGENITAL INFECTIONS: PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF A PILOT STUDY

Tracheobronchial aspirate samples for PCR were obtained from 78 newborns with intrauterine pneumonia to verify the disease etiology. It was found that in 11.5% of cases congenital pneumonia was caused by Streptococcus agalactiae (S. agalactiae).  PCR test of pap smears obtained from 401 women (aged from 17 to 35 years) found the genome of S. agalactiae in 19.5% of cases. In 31 of the 78 infected women (39.7%), carriage of S. agalactiae was asymptomatic, characterized by the absence of complaints or any clinical or laboratory manifestations of the inflammatory process. The high S. agalactiae infection level in reproductiveage women and its role in the etiology of congenital infection determines the need for compulsory screening of pregnant women for S. agalactiae and antibiotic prophylaxis of perinatal S. agalactiae infection