Molecular, Clinical Microbiology & Diagnosis of Group B Streptococcus

This book focuses on the pathogen group B streptococcus (GBS) which primarily causes meningitis, sepsis and pneumonia in newly born babies. This results in preventable morbidity and mortality in these neonates. The babies acquire the organism from their mothers because 3 out of 10 women are asymptomatically colonized by GBS in the vagina and rectum. Neonatal disease results in life long neurological complications in some of the children. Besides infections in children, GBS can also cause disease in pregnant and non-pregnant adults especially if they have underlying medical conditions. The book describes the bacteriology, epidemiology, clinical manifestations, laboratory diagnosis and characterization of this organism in a manner easily understandable to concerned parents, pharmacists, nurses, clinicians, medical laboratory scientists, technicians, technologists, biomedical scientists, clinical pharmacologists, rehabilitation specialists, academics and researchers, clinical scientists, infection control specialists, surveillance officers, epidemiologists and any other interested individuals especially medical students.