OBJECTIVE: To determine the demographic and clinical variables characteristic of non-epidemic intrapartum or puerperal group A streptococcal (GAS) infection. METHODS: The records of 47 patients diagnosed with intrapartum or puerperal GAS infection over a 6 1/2 year period at Hadassah-University Hospital-Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem were reviewed. Data regarding 25,811 women, the general population of women that delivered during that period, were obtained from their computerized medical records. Frequency distributions, t-test, chi-square, and Spearman's Rank Correlation were used, as appropriate, to analyze and compare demographic and clinical variables associated with development of GAS infection, its clinical course and subsequent development of septic shock. RESULTS: Mean age of mothers with GAS infection was higher than that of our general pregnant population (30.4 versus 27.4 years, P = 0.0019), and a higher proportion of GAS infected patients (30% versus 12%, P < 0.005) experienced PROM. Thirty-one (66%) women had fever as their sole presenting symptom, eight (17%) had fever and abdominal pain, seven (15%) had fever and abnormal vaginal bleeding, and one patient (2%) presented with a rash. Three patients (6%) developed a septic shock. Two of these patients presented with symptoms more than 14 days after delivery. CONCLUSIONS: We describe the characteristics of non-epidemic intrapartum or puerperal GAS infection. Data from our study and review of the literature suggest that some patients who develop septic shock may present later in the puerperium than patients with an uncomplicated GAS infection.
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