Streptococcus: Screening

(asked on 10th November 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the number of mothers screened for the presence of pathogens associated with neonatal sepsis, such as Group B streptococcal disease, in England in (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16 and (c) 2016-17.


Answered by
Philip Dunne Portrait
Philip Dunne
This question was answered on 20th November 2017

Following the United Kingdom National Screening Committee’s (UK NSC’s) meeting in February 2017, the Government accepted the UK NSC’s recommendation that a population based screening programme for Group B streptococcal (GBS) carriage should not be offered. This is because there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the benefits to be gained from screening would outweigh the harms.

As screening for GBS is not recommended, data as requested is not collected. The Chief Scientific Advisor has recommended that the National Institute of Health Research should commission a clinical trial to compare universal screening for GBS against usual-risk based care. This is to provide better quality evidence to assess the clinical effectiveness, benefits and harms of a screening programme.

Information on GBS in pregnancy can be found on the NHS Choices which can be accessed here:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/pregnancy-infections.aspx

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