Obstetrical care in future pregnancies after fetal loss in group B streptococcal septicemia. A prevention program based on bacteriological and immunological follow-up.

Among 22 mothers of infants infected with group B streptococci (GBS), 19 showed markedly low levels of antibodies against the infecting type. Three of the patients with low antibody levels went through a new pregnancy within 1 yr after they had lost an infant (2 patients) or experienced fetal death due to GBS (1 patient). They were still urogenital carriers of the type of GBS causing the previous infection, and their serum levels of type-specific antibodies remained low. All three went through a successful pregnancy following a prevention program comprising antibiotic treatment from the 28th wk of pregnancy.