Project 458923

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) disease, a bacterial infection often harmless in healthy adults, is the leading cause of serious blood and brain infections in newborns. Globally, around 18% of pregnant women carry the GBS bacteria in their genital and urinary tract which they can transmit to their baby during birth. Even with improvements in treatments, many infants with GBS disease die from infection and survivors often suffer long-term health consequences such as deafness, mental function delays or paralysis. Nearly 75% of GBS disease in newborns happens in the first week of life, known as "early-onset disease". To help limit early-onset GBS disease, pregnant women are tested for GBS bacteria when they are 35-37 weeks pregnant. Those who test positive, receive antibiotics during labour. Those who go into labour prematurely and do not have the opportunity to receive testing also receive antibiotics. The current strategy helps to reduce early cases of GBS disease, but it still misses some cases and fails to prevent disease in older babies who become infected later. Antibiotics may harm the mother and infant by damaging beneficial bacteria and can cause a reaction among mothers who are allergic. Vaccinating mothers with a GBS vaccine during pregnancy may be a potential solution to prevent GBS in their babies. To help Canadians make decisions about whether a vaccine will be better at preventing GBS and reducing healthcare costs, we need to have more information on the health burden of infant GBS and the effectiveness of current Canadian screening and treatment strategies. This study aims to fill this knowledge gap by reporting on the health consequences and total costs related to infant GBS disease, while also comparing current and future prevention strategies in terms of effectiveness and costs. Our results will give insight into the potential benefit of GBS vaccination during pregnancy, which will be useful for informing and supporting future vaccine recommendations.