Please call on your MP to prioritise group B Strep research
Every day in the UK two babies will develop group B Strep infection. Tragically, one baby a week will die from their infection, and another will survive with long-term physical or mental disabilities.
But most of these infections could be prevented by offering simple, safe antibiotics during labour to women known to carry group B Strep.
Sadly the UK doesn’t currently test all pregnant women for group B Strep. It instead uses ‘risk factors’ to choose who is offered antibiotics. This approach has failed, and the rate of GBS infection in babies has shot up 77% over the last 25 years.
Most other high-income countries, like Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, routinely test all pregnant women for group B Strep, and offer antibiotics in labour to those who test positive. They’ve seen 70-90% drops in their rates of GBS infection.
These countries have shown that routine testing reduces group B Strep infection in babies. There’s now a clinical trial, GBS3, which is working to establish if routine testing is better in a UK setting than our risk-factor approach.
The GBS3 trial needs to succeed for routine GBS testing to be introduced in the UK
To be successful, the GBS3 trial needs 80 hospitals taking part in England, Wales and Scotland. So far it has under half of the hospitals required.
Will you make your voice heard by emailing your MP?
Using our form below, you can quickly and easily email your MP, letting them know you want your local hospitals to prioritise taking part in GBS3. Please take just two minutes to email your MP, and help stop babies falling sick and dying as a result of these preventable infections.