Group B Strep (GBS) can be fatal to newborns, but with a new test designed in part by an MSU researcher, the specific strain can be recognized and treatment can begin within 40 minutes.

"This test can be done quickly and effectively - that's why this is so important," said Dele Davies, chairman of the Department of Pediatrics and Human Development.

Research for the new test was a collaboration with faculty members of several North American universities including the University of Texas, the University of Calgary in Canada and the University of Pittsburgh.

The molecular diagnostic test magnifies and identifies DNA specific to Group B Strep, which is naturally present in women, but can infect infants during birth.

Both tests involve a strep culture, using a large cotton swab similar to the ones employed in strep throat tests. GBS, however, is present in the large intestine or vaginal area.

GBS rarely causes problems for women aside from an occasional urinary tract infection, said Jeanne Jordan, fellow researcher and associate professor of pathology at the University of Pittsburgh.

But the strain can be fatal to newborns who contract the illness during birth.

Doctors can prevent women from passing the strep onto their children with antibiotics, such as penicillin or clindamycin, which can be administered to the mother during labor.

With help of the new strep test, Davies said the mortality rate of babies who contract the strain has decreased by 10 percent.

"For women who come into the labor and delivery unit not knowing what their GBS status is, it takes a short amount of time to decide whether to continue antibiotic treatment or not," Jordan said.

Pediatricians recommend the test as part of prenatal care, pediatrics Professor Maria Patterson said.

One of the problems facing the previous GBS test is premature birth.

"All pregnant women should be screened at 35 weeks, but in town, so many people are born before term," Patterson said

Jordan works in the clinical microbiology lab at Magee-Womens Hospital and said the new test has proven to be helpful in the clinic's delivery service.

"The obstetricians in the labor suite are very excited," Jordan said.

She said there is not a change in accuracy from the usual culture test to the molecular diagnostic test, but the speed of diagnosis in the new test is more desirable.

"The accuracy is similar, but the new test is simply faster so you can make clinical decisions in a real time fashion," Jordan said.