The effect of length of incubation on adherence of group B streptococci to epithelial cells.

Adhesion of group B streptococci to human epithelial vaginal and buccal cells proceeded in three phases which differed qualitatively. Maximum adhesion took place within 10 min of interaction, during the second phase (10-15 min), the percentage of adherent cells decreased significantly (P less than 0.05) whereas during the last phase the decrease became stabilized at a value which differed significantly from the maximum (P less than 0.01). The cause of variability in the number of positively reacting cells in relation to the exposure time is discussed.