Surveillance of invasive Group B streptococcal disease in infants
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Surveillance of invasive Group B streptococcal (iGBS) disease in infants up to 90 days of age in the UK and Ireland
IRAS ID
354860
Contact name
Joint Research and Enterprise Services
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
City St George’s, University of London – St George’s School of Health and Medical Sciences
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
This study is a 13-month period of enhanced surveillance of invasive group B streptococcal (iGBS) disease in infants up to 90 days, through the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit (BPSU), in collaboration with microbiology reference laboratories, microbiology laboratory surveillance and public health agencies in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Ireland.
Active monthly surveillance will be conducted as per standard BPSU methods, via the eCard reporting system, in which an email will be sent monthly to all consultant paediatricians and associate specialists in the UK and Ireland, asking them to notify any case of GBS identified from a normally sterile site in an infant up to 90 days of age. This email is sent from the Health Informatics Centre (HIC) at the University of Dundee.
When a paediatrician notifies a case to the HIC, the reporter’s details will be passed to the study coordinator, based at UKHSA. The study coordinator will send an online case report form link to the reporting paediatrician. This proforma collects minimum required demographic data/identifiers, details of the pregnancy and birth, clinical presentation, and outcome of disease.
This data will be used to calculate incidence of invasive GBS disease in infants aged < 90 days in the UK and Ireland, describe the clinical presentation of cases of iGBS in infants, and calculate the case fatality rate and complication rate at hospital discharge for iGBS.
REC name
London - Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
26/LO/0331
Date of REC Opinion
6 May 2026
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion