Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what cost-benefit assessment he has made of detecting group B streptococcus during pregnancy.

Two cost effectiveness estimates have been made by the health technology assessment. One estimated¹ that screening may be cost effective but recommended more research to evaluate the balance of benefit and harm from screening. The second² estimated that screening was close to current cost effectiveness thresholds. It was uncertain whether screening or risk factor management was the more cost effective option.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence³ have been unable to evaluate the cost effectiveness of screening because of a lack of data on key parameters.

Notes:

¹ Colbourn et al. Prenatal screening and treatment strategies to prevent group B streptococcal and other bacterial infections in early infancy: cost-effectiveness and expected value of information analyses.2007. HTA. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17651659

² Daniels et al. Cost-effectiveness of rapid tests and other existing strategies for screening and management of early-onset group B streptococcus during labour.2010.HTA.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21078057

³ Antenatal care guideline 2008; https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg62