Calls for more testing over disease Group B Strep that kills one baby a week in UK

A SILENT disease is killing one baby a week in the UK prompting calls from doctors for more testing.

Group B Strep causes life-threatening infections in newborns and can take a life just hours after birth in its most devastating cases.

The disease is the most common cause of meningitis in babies under three months and can also lead to sepsis and pneumonia.

An inquiry by top midwife Donna Ockenden has lifted the lid on a litany of at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, including the Group B Strep threat.

The review found some of the babies would die or develop lifechanging disabilities were infected by their unknowing mothers who often show symptoms.

Most developed countries, including Canada, the US and most of Europe, routinely test for Group B Strep, however the UK does not.

Jane Plumb, chief executive of charity Group B Strep Support, told the the tragic losses could have been prevented.

She said: “It is heartbreaking to read of such poor care, where if only things had been done differently, babies and their mothers may not have died or suffered life-long disabilities.

"Group B Strep is a leading cause of serious infection in newborn babies.

"We could and should be preventing most of these awful infections - these brave families' experiences show change is long overdue.”

Midwife Alison Stanley, who works at University Hospital Sussex, said there are two different scenarios when a mum-to-be is tested.

She said: "If a pregnant woman has tested positive through a urine sample then the woman needs to have oral antibiotics at that point in the pregnancy and that would clear up the infection.

"If a woman tests positive with a vaginal swab then she needs to be treated at the time she is in established labour or her water breaks.

"We give IV broad spectrum antibiotics, and then further antibiotics every four hours through the labour."

She said the antibiotics are safe and will prevent the baby dying of Group B Strep.

An antibiotic called beta-lactams - which includes penicillin and ampicillin - is used to treat Group B Strep.

Around 75 babies each year will survive the condition but will be diagnosed with lifelong disabilities such as deafness or developmental issues.

Around one in every 1,750 babies in the UK and Ireland between 0 and six days old are diagnosed with early-onset Group B Strep infection.

Approximately one in every 2,700 babies in the UK and Ireland between seven and 90 days old are diagnosed with late-onset group B Strep infection.

The revelation come after a damning report highlighted the needless loss of mums and babies in two decades of medical failures at scandal-hit NHS hospitals.

Some 201 babies and nine mothers needlessly died at Midlands hospitals in the biggest maternity scandal in NHS history.