[Pregnant women themselves can take specimens for identification of group B streptococci carriers].

Prenatal screening for group B streptococcus colonisation in pregnant women is controversial, though recommended in some countries. We aimed to compare the detection rate when pregnant women performed their own vaginal/anorectal swabs with the standard practice of physician obtained swabs. During six months, 89 pregnant women with high risk for premature labor collected their own vaginal/anorectal swab after instruction from a midwife. Afterwards a physician took a similar sample among 80 of the women. All together, 30 (34%) out of 89 women were carriers of group B streptococcus. Comparing the efficacy of the sampling procedures among 80 women who had taken both tests, we found that 25 of 26 positive cultures were identified by self-collected samples, while 17 out of 26 were identified by samples collected by the physicians. The difference in sensitivity (96% vs 65%) was statistically significant (p < 0.001) with a kappa value of 0.68. Self-collected vaginal/anorectal swabs for the identification of group B streptococcus carriers are at least as sensitive as the practice of physician performed swabs.