All pregnant women should be tested for group B strep bacteria when they are 35 to 37 weeks pregnant. A pregnant woman who tests positive for group B strep bacteria and receives appropriate antibiotics during labor reduces the chance of infecting her baby to just 1 in 4,000 whereas a woman who does not receive the treatment maintains 1 in 200 chance of passing the infection on to her baby. It should be noted that antibiotic therapy to prevent early-onset group B strep disease in newborns is effective only when administered during labor.

Excelsior Diagnostics will supply you with a test kit that contains a vaginal/ rectal swab, a transport tube, gloves and a prepaid overnight UPS envelope. Excelsior will process the specimen using Polymerace Chain Reaction (PCR) molecular technology the very morning it is received, providing next day results.

Legacy strep testing is still done by most medical testing labs using culture media that can take from 3 to 5 days to result. During this period, providers are in the dark regarding the best way to treat the patient’s painful symptoms. Often, even hospitalization decisions may have to be delayed for an extended period during which time the patient may be at increased risk.