Acquisition and transmission of group B Streptococcus during pregnancy.

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a major cause of neonatal sepsis and meningitis. We followed up 78 pregnant couples for < or =2 months to estimate the risk of GBS transmission. Among couples with discordant GBS status, we observed 1 male-to-female transmission event (1 of 3 couples in which the woman was GBS negative at enrollment), but no female-to-male transmission events (0 of 8 couples in which the man was GBS negative at enrollment).