Late onset of GBS > Sepsis

[je55mcn]

Hi, I am currently 16+5 weeks pregnant with my 3rd baby. Unfortunately we had an early MC with no known explanation (at around 6 weeks pregnant).thankfully I was able to miscarry naturally. My first baby who is almost 14months old was born 9 days early (37+5). He developed Sepsis around 3 months old which I believe was caused by late onset of GBS and also he had just been given his 1st vaccinations. Firstly I want to ask, generally should I continues getting my child's vaccined? If I read correctly, WHO recommends not to continue vaccinations if your child had a severe reaction to vaccines previously. As mentioned, my son developed Sepsis and was given fluids immediately and an IV through his head for 5 days in which he was admitted to hospital, lumbar puncture came back mostly clear (small traces of blood but doctors said this was ok). After his 2nd set of vaccines he was admitted again for 2 days and paediatrician doctor believes he had a a reaction to the solution in the vaccines but unconfirmed. They advised not to continue with vaccinations however my GP surgery keep pushing me to get them. Firstly I wanted some general advice on whether I should or not? I know it's too late for some of them but generally would the advice be to start getting him vaccinated again?

Secondly, which is more GBS related, as mentioned about I am 16+5 weeks pregnant. My green folder has a GBS Alert sticker to offer intravenous antibiotics during labour. What are these antibiotics and given what happened my 1st born son, would the general advice be to accept these antibiotics?

Thirdly, and closely related to the above question. I am an NHS patient and would love to go private however I am not in the financial position to do so. I read on the NHS website that "rarely" is GBS testing offered on the NHS. However by "rarely" I would assume that means it has been done before but just not very often. Given the history with my son, would general advice suggest I should be tested on the NHS for GBS? Who would I contact or what would I request? I find that when I ask my midwife or healthcare professional to "please make a note you have denied my request" they tend to change their position and try to offer me what I've requested.

I am based in Northern Ireland if this makes any difference to the general advice you can provide me with.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind Regards,

Jessica.

[Nat1979]

Hi there, poor you it sounds as if you’ve had a terrible time. I’d really encourage you to give the GBSS helpline a call direct. They were so incredibly helpful when I recently had my third baby after two previous births with Group b strep. Best of luck xx

[Nat1979]

Also as far as I know once you’ve had one infection you should be treated as positive for the next and automatically given antibiotics during labour. If you want to get the test done they are about £30 and you can do it yourself at home. The GBSS support website normally have details of these tests.

[GBSSadmin Partner Volunteer Group B Strep Support]

Dear Jessica,

Thank you for your message and many congratulations on your pregnancy. The charity can provide general information for guidance on group B Strep, but cannot give you advice, nor can we provide counselling or a diagnosis. If you need medical advice, please contact your health care providers.

I’m sorry to hear about your son’s group B Strep infection, and I do hope he’s made a good recovery. We know of no evidence that suggests babies who have recovered from their group B Strep infection should receive anything other than the normal childhood vaccination schedule. However, if you are concerned about whether to have your son vaccinated or not, we’d suggest you discuss this with his health team.

Where mums have had a baby who developed group B Strep infection, future babies are at a higher risk of also developing group B Strep infection – assuming no preventative measures are taken. there’s a roughly 1 in 100 risk that a future baby would develop an early-onset group B Strep infection (in the baby’s first 6 days). UK guidelines (from NICE and the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists (RCOG)) recommend that, if Mum has had a baby who developed group B Strep infection, she should be offered intravenous antibiotics in all future labours. These should be offered as soon as possible once labour starts and at regular intervals (usually 4 hourly) until the baby is born. These antibiotics reduce the baby’s risk by an estimated 85%, so again assuming no other risk factors are present the risk falls to around 1 in 2000. The preferred antibiotic is penicillin, though alternatives are available if you are allergic to penicillin.

Current guidelines would not recommend that you be tested for group B Strep. If your son had a group B Strep infection, you should be offered the intravenous antibiotics in all future labours – there’d be no need to test to see if you’re carrying GBS that pregnancy.

If you haven’t already, you may find the leaflet we’ve written in partnership with the RCOG helpful, see gbss.org.uk/wp-content/uplo... for more.

Best wishes,

Oliver