‘HEARTBREAKING’
Hundreds of British babies die or are left with ‘lifelong disabilities’ every year after not being given ‘simple’ test
Plus, all the symptoms of GBS in youngsters you need to know before it's too late
HUNDREDS of babies in the UK either die or are left with lifelong disabilities every year.
But these "heartbreaking" cases could be prevented with a simple test, campaigners say.
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Around 800 newborns a year, or two a day, will develop Group B Strep (GBS) infection.
Each week, around one baby will die of the infection and two will be left with a lifelong disability.
"It's a heartbreaking start to life for families and that often the first they hear of Group B Strep is when their baby is sick or in intensive care", Oliver Plumb, from the charity , told the .
The UK does not currently routinely test mums-to-be for GBS.
Read more on Group B Strep
Only certain hospitals offer the potentially life-saving screening.
The test involves taking a swab sample from the vagina and rectum, where the bacteria usually lies, a few weeks before the due date.
GBS is found in around one in five women but typically causes no harm to the mum-to-be, states.
The danger is when giving birth, a mum can pass the deadly bacteria to her newborn during labour without knowing.
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The bug can cause sepsis, pneumonia or meningitis in the child, all of which can kill.
In the vast majority of cases, babies will be unaffected.
But both Natalie Lockyer and Becca Murcott's babies were seriously ill after catching the bug.
'Postcode lottery'
Natalie's daughter Quinn was transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London when she became unwell five weeks after birth.
She died aged 10 weeks after due to GBS.
The mum told the BBC that medics from around the world who were at the hospital were shocked that GBS screening was not a routine procedure in the UK, as it is in other countries.
"If they do it, why don't we? It's so simple," she asked.
Becca's son Albie was born on Boxing Day 2023 and had GBS meningitis, which caused a brain injury.
He became ill at home and was admitted to the hospital, where his condition stabilised.
Her husband, Rob, told the BBC: "We could have been tested and prepared for it, and Albie could have been saved from it."
Becca said testing should be carried out in labour or shortly before.
Oliver, from the charity, explained there was a "postcode lottery" regarding how many families would hear about GBS.
"In the UK we don't sadly have a routine testing programme, that's at odds with much of the rest of the high-income world," he said.
The UK National Screening Committee have given several reasons GBS checks, including that the condition does not cause infection in every baby and that a woman can test positive but be negative by the time she goes into labour.
The decision is due to be reviewed .
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The charity has called for GBS to be a notifiable disease to make it a legal responsibility for all infections to be reported, so that outbreaks can be tracked.
It said that current figures could be missing around one fifth of the infections.
GBS: What are the symptoms?
THE symptoms in newborn babies usually develop really early on, in around the first 24 hours after birth.
Symptoms in babies include:
- Fever
- Breathing problems/grunting sounds
- Bluish-coloured skin (cyanosis)
- Seizures
- Limpness or stiffness
- Heart rate and blood pressure abnormalities
- Poor feeding
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Fussiness
Source: NHS
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