• Amal M Surrati, Khulood M Alharbi, Walaa Mohammedsaeed, and Hanaa F Almohammadi.
• From the Department of Family and Community Medicine and Medical Education (Surrati), College of Medicine, Taibah University; from the Department of Pediatrics (Alharbi), College of Medicine, Taibah University; from the Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences (Mohammedsaeed), Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Taibah University, and from the Department of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (Almohammadi), Maternity and Children Hospital, King Salman bin abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of Health, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• Saudi Med J. 2024 Feb 1; 45 (2): 163170163-170.

ObjectivesTo determine the occurrence of Group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection in neonates and its associated risk factors in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah, Saudi Arabia.MethodsThis retrospective study was carried out at the Maternity and Child Hospital in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah, between 2017-2022. The laboratory and clinical data of 64 neonates were collected and analyzed using GraphPad Prism 7 software.ResultsOut of 16,022 neonates admitted to the nursery, 64 infants were diagnosed with GBS infection. Approximately 53.1% were male, 46.9% female, 15.6% were preterm, and 84.4% were full-term. Vaginal births accounted for 71.9%. The mean onset age was 10±12.4 days. Among the GBS patients, 53.1% had early-onset disease (EOD, 0-6 days), while 46.9% had late-onset disease (LOD, 7-90 days). Unexamined mothers had a higher incidence of GBS and EOD newborns (p=0.05). Meningitis was more common in LOD than EOD patients and correlated with illness onset (p=0.05). Early-onset disease patients had a higher incidence of sepsis. The mortality rate was 10.9%, while 89.1% were discharged from the hospital.ConclusionNeonatal GBS infection is prevalent in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah. Several risk factors may contribute to the occurrence of GBS infection including preterm labor, higher body temperature during delivery, prolonged premature rupture of membranes for more than 18 hours, and GBS bacteriuria. We recommend that larger multi-centric studies are needed in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah, to study the magnitude of neonatal GBS infection and risk factors to develop a screening protocol in maternity and children's hospital.Copyright: © Saudi Medical Journal.

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