Microbiology reviews virulence factors for streptococcus B

A research group, led by the Microbiology clinical management unit of the Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital in Granada, has carried out a review and clarification of current knowledge of the genetics, biochemistry and virulence factors of group B streptococcus.

The work entitled "Group B streptococcal hemolysin and pigment, a tale of twins. doi: 10.1111/1574-6976.1207" was recently published in the journal of the European Societies of Microbiology, FEMS Reviews, with an impact factor of over 13, one of the highest in the world. This study was developed by this clinical unit, which belongs to the Granada Biosanitary Research Institute, the Pasteur Institute and the German University of Ulm.

This streptococcus continues to be the main pathogen that threatens the health of the newborn, causing septicemia and meningitis. Likewise, it is an important emerging pathogen as a cause of infection in the elderly.

The published research is the result of more than 20 years of experience. The Granada hospital was the first in Europe to implement the streptococcus detection program in pregnant women to prevent infection in the newborn. The research group also developed the most common and effective detection system called GRANADA Medium, currently used worldwide.

Early detection in pregnant women to prevent infection in the baby during childbirth is now a common practice in Spain and is included in the Andalusian program. In this way, all pregnant women are analyzed in the 35th week of gestation to see if they are carriers of streptococci or not, in order, if so, to give an antibiotic injection to the mother at the time of birth of the child, thus avoiding the contagion.

GBS clinical isolates simultaneously express a hemolysin and a red polyene pigment (granadaene) which are the two most important phenotypic traits for identification in the laboratory. In addition to this usefulness for the diagnosis of this infection, the work shows and clarifies how hemolysin and the pigment of GBS play a key role in the ability of this bacterium to produce very serious infections in newborns and the elderly.