Written question asked by Mike Hancock (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 23 February 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 26 February 2004. It was answered by Stephen Ladyman (Labour) on Thursday, 26 February 2004 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when testing using enriched culture media will be available in the NHS for diagnosing group B streptococcus colonisation in pregnant women.

Answer: Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when testing using enriched culture media will be available in the NHS for diagnosing group B streptococcus colonisation in pregnant women. [156556] Dr. Ladyman: The recently published National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) clinical guideline on antenatal care recommends that pregnant women should not be offered routine antenatal screening for group B streptococcus (GBS) because evidence of its clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness remains uncertain. The United Kingdom National Screening Committee (NSC) is currently reviewing the prevention of GBS infection in new-born babies. As part of this review, the NSC organised a workshop in November 2003. The workshop discussed both the current tests available and potential tests for diagnosing GBS colonisation in pregnant women which are the subject of research now under way. This includes the enriched culture medium test. Further work on the use of different tests will be undertaken.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 418 c542-3W;418 c562-3W; 156556
Session: 2003-04
Subjects: Diagnosis Pregnancy Screening Bacterial diseases Obstetrics Streptococcus
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk