Nosocomial transmission of bacteriophage type 7/11/12 group B streptococci in a special care nursery
K. M. Boyer, L. C. Vogel, S. P. Gotoff, C. A. Gadzala, J. Stringer and W. R. Maxted
Two premature infants in a special care nursery acquired late-onset group B
streptococcal (GBS) sepsis within a 24-hour period. The infecting strains
were serotype III organisms with bacteriophage type 7/11/12. Cultures of
the mothers of the two affected infants were negative for GBS, implying
nosocomial acquisition of infection. Although 32% of nursery personnel had
mucosal carriage of GBS, none of the seven isolates of GBS type III was the
same bacteriophage type as the two infecting strains. Of the other infants
hospitalized in the nursery, five were asymptomatically colonized with GBS.
These infants were in bassinets adjacent to the affected infants; all five
of their isolates were identical to the two infecting strains. We conclude
that infant-to-infant transmission may result in nosocomial late-onset GBS
septicemia.
