In this study, it is aimed to evaluate effectiveness of the conventional culture method and PCR based molecular method in detecting the vaginal Group B Streptococcus (Streptococcus agalactiae) colonization during the third trimester of pregnancy. Two vaginal samples were obtained simultaneously from each consenting pregnant women by using sterile swabs. One of the swabs was directly cultured by means of plating onto 5% sheep blood agar, while the other one was used for a real-time PCR assay. A total of 80 samples were collected in which 64 (80%) samples were found negative by both the culture and PCR methods, whereas remaining 16 (%20) were positive by at least one of the two methods; six samples were positive in both methods, nine were positive with PCR only, and one was positive with culture only. In this study, a statistically significant difference was found between these two methods by using Mac Nemar test (p<0.021).
Keywords: Group B Streptococcus, pregnancy, vaginal colonization, real-time PCR.
