Introduction: Group B streptococcus leads to the most common aggressive bacterial infection and has the highest morbidity and mortality in infants in the first trimester of life. So based on this importance, in this study we aimed to evaluate the prevalence of group B streptococcal (GBS) positive rectovaginal culture in pregnant women with membrane rupture .
Methods: This prospective cohort study was conducted from 2018 to 2019 in Alzahra and Beheshti hospitals in Isfahan on 312 pregnant women with membrane rupture. The culture of the rectovaginal for GBS was performed, and specimens were evaluated for Streptococcus group B and considered positive or negative. Finally, maternal information and the results of cultures were analyzed, and the correlation between positive rectovaginal cultures and other information was evaluated.
Results: The patients were divided into two groups of positive and negative rectovaginal cultures for GBS; there were 22 cases of positive rectovaginal cultures for GBS. No significant differences were observed between the two groups based on age, pregnancy age, abortion history, history of neonatal sepsis, antibiotic usage in pregnancy, interval between admission and delivery, interval between PROM and admission, and neonatal admission in the NICU (p >0.05). 9 cases with positive urine culture and 13 cases with negative urine culture had positive rectovaginal culture for GBS, so there was a significant relationship between rectovaginal culture for GBS and urine culture for GBS (p = 0.001) .
Conclusion: Positive rectovaginal culture for GBS is an important risk factor for the mother with PROM and also it can be
associated with the positive urine culture of GBS.