The charity Group B Strep Support has launched a campaign entitled ‘Why Guess… when you can test?’ to help improve access among pregnant women to the ‘gold standard’ test for group B strep (GBS) infection.

GBS is the most common cause of life-threatening infection in newborn babies and the leading cause of meningitis in babies under three months. Administering intravenous antibiotics to women with a GBS infection during labour can significantly decrease the risk of the infection being passed onto the baby. However, the current test for GBS used in the UK only detects up to 50 per cent of carriers, making it little better than guesswork – which is why the charity is calling for all women to be offered the more accurate ECM (enriched culture medium) test.

Find out how your pharmacy team can support the #WhyGuess campaign and download a poster to display via the Group B Strep Support website.