A more rapid test for pregnant women to detect potentially deadly Group B strep (GBS) has successfully identified GBS colonization in six-and-a-half hours, according to the results of a study from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). The more rapid test could be helpful for the 13% of patients who experience preterm labor before they are screened for GBS, which usually occurs between 35 and 37 weeks of gestation. The current standard test takes 48 hours. Antibiotics can be administered at the time of delivery to kill the bacteria.
The new test, developed by NanoLogix, can also detect antibiotic sensitivities for women who are allergic to penicillin, saving the additional 48 hours the standard test for antibiotic sensitivity takes.
In the study, published in a recent online edition of Infectious Diseases in Obstetrics and Gynecology, 356 patients at 35 to 37 weeks of gestation at UT Physicians clinics were tested for GBS using two standard tests and the new test, which provided a high level of validity according to the study results.
Researchers are studying an even faster version of the test with the hope that it could detect GBS in as little as 30 minutes. That could make a difference for the up to 15% of pregnant women who arrive for full-term delivery and have not been screened. Right now, obstetricians must determine whether to give these women intravenous antibiotics automatically or use risk factors, which have been shown to be only half as effective as laboratory tests, to assess whether the patient has the bacteria. Read the study.
