Case definition
Confirmed case
Clinical illness in an infant up to and including 31 days of age with laboratory confirmation of infection:
- isolation of group B Streptococcus (Streptococcus agalactiae) from a normally sterile site (such as blood or cerebrospinal fluid)
OR
- demonstration of group B Streptococcus DNA in a normally sterile site.
Probable case
Clinical illness in an infant up to and including 31 days of age with laboratory confirmation of infection:
- detection of group B Streptococcus antigen in a normally sterile site.
There are two forms of clinical illness: early onset disease (1-7 days), characterized by sepsis, respiratory distress, apnea, shock, pneumonia and meningitis; and late onset disease (7 days to 1 month), characterized by bacteremia, meningitis and other focal infections.
