BACKGROUND

Group B (GBS) is one of the leading causes of neonatal early-onset sepsis, resulting in high mortality and significant comorbidity. Intrapartum penicillin prophylaxis is recommended for pregnant women with GBS colonization to prevent vertical transmission. For pregnant women at high risk of anaphylaxis to penicillin, clindamycin is recommended only if the susceptibility of GBS isolates has been identified. We retrospectively examined the GBS detection rate and clindamycin resistance among Korean women of reproductive age over the last 20 years.

METHODS

Microbiologic studies using vaginal, vaginal-rectal or vaginal-perianal swabs from female patients 15-49 years of age during 2003-2022 were reviewed. Annual GBS detection rates and clindamycin resistance rates were calculated. The study period was divided into two periods (period 1, 2003-2015; period 2, 2016-2022) based on the introduction of universal culture-based GBS screening in our center in 2016. GBS detection rates and clindamycin resistance rates were compared between the periods using χ² tests.

RESULTS

A total of 14,571 women were tested 16,879 times and GBS was isolated in 1,054 tests (6.2%), with 423 clindamycin-resistant isolates (40.1%). The GBS detection rate increased from 3.4% (301/8,869) in period 1 to 9.4% (2,753/8,010) in period 2 ( < 0.001). Even during period 1, the GBS detection rate was higher in 2009-2015 compared to 2003-2008 ( < 0.001). Clindamycin resistance rates have remained at similar levels since 2009, which were 39.5% (199/301) in period 1 and 40.2% (303/753) in period 2 ( = 0.833).

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrated that GBS detection rates in Korean women of reproductive age significantly increased almost three times during the twenty years of the study period, with a persistently high clindamycin resistance rate of up to 40%.