July is recognized as International Group B Strep Awareness month.
Group B strep is a common bacterial infection in adults who often experience no signs or symptoms. However, infected pregnant women can potentially pass this infection to their newborns during childbirth or within the first few months of life, sometimes with life-threatening consequences. Group B should not be confused with the more common group A strep that affects the throats of most of us at some stage during our lifetime.
Adults with this bacterial infection often are unaware of it. Pregnant women are most likely to know they are infected because of a screening test given during the third trimester. [Read more...]