An expectant mother who is a carrier of the group b strep might pass on the bacteria to her child during labor even when the mother is asymptomatic. Studies demonstrate that between fifteen to forty percent of expecting mothers have group b streptococcus. If there is no treatment, a baby born to a woman who is a carrier of the bacteria has a 1 in 200 possibility of developing a Group B Strep infection. By giving the mother the right antibiotics during labor the likelihood of the mother passing the Group b strep bacteria to her newborn is diminished by 2,000%.
To help figure out which expecting mothers require antibiotics while in labor, expecting mothers without any symptoms are tested for GBS between the 35th and 37th week of the pregnancy. Being tested for group b strep is a simple process. Since the bacteria normally colonizes inside the urinary and vaginal tract of the mother, a swab is used to get a sample. The results of the test are ordinarily accessible inside 48 hours.
If a newborn develops a Group B Strep infection and is not treated right away, the infection can develop into pneumonia, sepsis or meningitis. Because an infant's immune systems is not totally developed, the baby might be left with lifelong physical and neurological injuries that may prevent the child from ever living a normal life. And of the roughly seventy-six hundred infants each year who become infected with gorup b strep there is a mortality rate of 10-15%.
With the significant danger a group b strep infection poses for newborns, physicians examining an infant who has signs consistent with a GBS infection and whose mother tested positive during the pregnancy should incorporate it in their differential diagnosis. Examine, for instance, a sent to claim in which a baby, born to a woman who had a known history of being a GBS carrier during the pregnancy, began to exhibit symptoms consistent with a Group B Strep infection shortly after birth. However, the treating physician did not correlate the symptoms in the infant's postnatal chart with the prenatal record which recorded that mother had tested positive for the bacteria during the pregnancy. Consequently, the proper diagnosis was was untimely and antibiotics were not administered in a timely manner.
Because of the time that passed before antibiotics were administered, the infant suffered brain damage. The law firm that represented the family described that they achieved a settlement for the family for $ 750,000 with the physician and $ 3,125,000 with the hospital.
Babies can acquire a group b strep infection even tough antibiotics were given to the mother during labor. A recent study also revealed that there are a number of newborns who develop the infection regardless of whether the mother tested negative. Doctors thus should consider it as part of their differential diagnosis whenever a baby displays signs consistent with group b strep . As this lawsuit shows The failure to check the prenatal chart and to consider Group B Strep may constitute liability for medical malpractice.
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting medical malpractice and birth injury cases. You can learn more about group b streptococcus and other birth injury cases including those involving erb's palsy matters visit the websites
Orignal From: Lawsuit Alleging Infant Sustained Brain Damage Because of Pediatrician's Hesitation In Diagnosing And Treating A Group B Strep Infection
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