oa Epidemiology, Microbiological Characteristics and Clinical Outcomes of Invasive Blood Stream Infections of Group B Streptococcal Isolates From Qatar

Background: Group B Streptococci (GBS) or Streptococcus agalactiae colonize humans genitourinary and gastrointestinal tracts particularly in females¹. The pathogen is capable of causing invasive disease primarily in infants, pregnant and postpartum women as well as the elderly and patients with comorbidities². There is a paucity of studies on the disease with regional differences in prevalence and presentation of invasive bloodstream infection (BSI)³. In this study, we aim to assess the prevalence, microbiological characteristics as well as clinical outcomes of invasive GBS disease from all ages groups at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Qatar. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on all patients with microbiologically confirmed GBS bacteremia between January 2015–March 2019. Demographic, microbiological characteristics, as well as clinical data, were extracted from the hospital information system. Results: Out of the 196 confirmed cases of GBS bloodstream infections, 63.7 % were females (125/196) of whom 44.8 % were pregnant (56/125). There were three distinct age group populations: pediatric less than 4 years of age at 35.7 %, young adults 25-34 (20.9 %), and the elderly > 65 years (17.4 %). Presenting symptoms were fever in 53 % of the cases (104/196) (Table 1). Microbiological characteristics using disc diffusion tests demonstrated all isolates were universally sensitive to penicillin (100%, 196/196) with significant resistance to clindamycin at 28.6 % (56/196) and erythromycin at 49 % (96/196) of which 34.4 % (33/96) had inducible clindamycin resistance (Figure 1). The clinical outcomes showed a high cure rate of 87.25% (171/196) with low complications at 8.76 % (17/196) and 4% (8/196) 30-day mortality. Conclusion: Streptococcus agalactiae bloodstream infection in Qatar is common in females, affects the very young, and the elderly. The organism remains universality sensitive to penicillin with significant resistance to clindamycin and erythromycin. Patients present with mild symptoms have high cure rates, low complications, and safe outcomes for the majority of cases.