Group B Streptococcal infections among nonpregnant adults: A cross sectional study from a Tertiary care teaching hospital in South India

To understand the epidemiology of Group B Streptococcal infections among nonpregnant adults and to study the antibiotic susceptibility profile of GBS isolates.: A cross sectional study conducted in the department of microbiology in a tertiary care teaching hospital during December 2018 to May 2020. Group B Streptococcal (GBS) isolates from clinical samples of nonpregnant adults were included in the study. Identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing of GBS isolates were performed according to standard microbiology techniques. Patient’s demographic features and clinical details were collected from medical records. : A total of 58 GBS isolates were obtained from nonpregnant adults during the study period. There was a female (60.3%) predominance among the study group. Mean age of the study subjects was 51.4 years. In our study GBS were commonly isolated from urine 50% (n=29) and wound swabs 46.6% (n=27). One isolate each (1.7%) was obtained from blood culture, urethral swab and high vaginal swab. Common GBS infections noted in this study were Urinary tract infections (50%) and skin and soft tissue infections (46.6%). Diabetes mellitus (58.6%) was the most common risk factor noted in our study. All the isolates were sensitive to Penicillin, Linezolid and Vancomycin. Erythromycin and clindamycin resistance of 13.8% and 6.9% respectively were noted. A shifting trend of GBS infections from pregnant women and neonates to non-pregnant adults was observed in the present study. In patients with diabetes mellitus GBS could be considered as causative agent of skin and soft tissue infections.