Sepsis: Screening

(asked on 10th November 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information healthcare professionals are advised to give mothers with risk factors of neonatal sepsis regarding the need for screening for the presence of pathogens associated with neonatal sepsis.


Answered by
Philip Dunne Portrait
Philip Dunne
This question was answered on 20th November 2017

Health Education England has produced and continues to develop sepsis educational resources for healthcare professionals. This includes a number of resources to support the learning on sepsis recognition and management across the system in both primary and secondary care.

The principal pathogen of potential concern in neonatal sepsis is Group B Streptococcus (GBS). Following the UK National Screening Committee’s meeting in February 2017, the Government accepted the Committee’s recommendation that a population based screening programme for GBS carriage should not be offered. However, the Chief Scientific Advisor recommended that the National Institute for Health Research should commission a clinical trial to compare universal screening for Group B Streptococcus against usual-risk based care. This has been approved and the trial is expected to complete around the end of 2021.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has published guidance for obstetricians, midwives and neonatologists on the prevention of early-onset (less than seven days of age) neonatal Group B streptococcal disease and for the information to be provided to women, their partners and families. It has also produced an information leaflet for parents-to-be about GBS. Information on GBS is also included in the NHS Pregnancy Book which is given free to all first time pregnant women.

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