• Margrét Johansson Gudjónsdóttir, Elisabet Hentz, Stefan Berg, Erik Backhaus, Anders Elfvin, Samir Kawash, and Birger Trollfors.
• Division of Neonatology, Department of Paediatrics, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden. margretkristin@gmail.com.
• Bmc Infect Dis. 2015 Nov 9; 15: 507.

BackgroundGroup B Streptococci (GBS) are the most common neonatal pathogens and infect immunocompromised and elderly individuals. The species has 10 different serotypes. Serotypes have been studied in the south-west area of Sweden in 1988-1997 and 1998-2001. The aim of this study was to study serotypes in the same area from 2004 to 2009.MethodsInvasive GBS isolates were collected prospectively from 2004 to 2009 in two counties in western Sweden with a population of 1.8 million, and were serotyped by latex agglutination. Clinical data were obtained from hospital records. During the study period 410 invasive GBS isolates from 398 patients were collected (multiple episodes ≥ 1 month apart). Clinical data were not available for two patients who are excluded. Four isolates were from stillborn neonates, 88 were from live born neonates and infants, and 318 from adults.ResultsSerotype III was the most common serotype (48%) in neonates and infants followed by serotypes Ia (18%) and V (16%). In adults serotype V (39%) dominated followed by serotypes III (20%) and Ib (14%). There was a significant increase of serotype V in comparison with the first study (1988-1997) but there were no significant changes in the serotype distribution between the present study and the second study (1998-2001). There were a few cases of serotype VI-IX, both in children and adults, not seen in the previous studies. Serotype V was more common among patients with arthritis than with any other manifestation.ConclusionsChanges in GBS serotypes occur over time in the same region, which must be considered when GBS vaccines are formulated.

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