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Our overall goal is to describe the prevalence and incidence of GBS among 500 male and 500 female college students, and to identify behavioral and bacterial factors associated with GBS vaginal, urethral and bowel colonization, acquisition and loss, and describe the prevalence and incidence of colonization by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) pattern, serotype, and presence of GBS virulence factors.
Group B streptococcus (GBS) is a major cause of neonatal sepsis and meningitis, and causes a number of potentially life-threatening illnesses among adults. GBS colonization among pregnant women increases risk of GBS colonization and subsequent disease among the infant. A better understanding of both behavioral and bacterial risk factors for acquisition and long-term colonization is essential to appropriately plan and target intervention strategies, including predicting the impact of vaccination on the circulation of various serotypes in the population. Further, a description of the prevalence of GBS serotypes in the population is required to formulate a policy for the use of GBS vaccine. Our overall goal is to describe the prevalence and incidence of GBS among 500 male and 500 female college students, and to identify behavioral and bacterial factors associated with GBS vaginal, urethral and bowel colonization, acquisition and loss, and describe the prevalence and incidence of colonization by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) pattern, serotype, and presence of GBS virulence factors. All participants will be screened for GBS at enrollment, and 2 and 4 months post enrollment. We will invite participants acquiring GBS during the study to recruit their most recent sex partner for study and to return for an additional visit at 6 months following enrollment. Specifically we plan to: Aim 1: Estimate the prevalence of vaginal, urethral and rectal colonization with GBS by serotype and PFGE pattern among adult males and adult, non-pregnant females. Aim 2: Estimate the incidence of GBS acquisition and loss by GBS serotype, PFGE pattern and site of colonization among males and females over a 6 month period. Aim 3: Estimate the duration of GBS colonization by serotype, PFGE pattern and site of colonization among males and females over a 6 month period. Aim 4: Using PFGE, determine whether sex partners of participants who acquire GBS during the study period are colonized with the same GBS strain as the study participant. In addition, we will describe the association of behavioral and socio- demographic characteristics, and medical and social history with prevalence, incidence and duration of colonization with specific GBS strains as defined by serotype and PFGE pattern.