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Updated: Feb 8, 2026
Capsular Serotyping of Streptococcus pneumoniae Using the Quellung Reaction
Published on: February 24, 2014
Systematic review of the clinical development of group B streptococcus serotype-specific capsular
Sonwabile Dzanibe1,2,3, Shabir A Madhi1,2
1a Department of Science and Technology/National Research Foundation: Vaccine Preventable Diseases, Faculty of Health Sciences , University of the Witwatersrand , Johannesburg , South Africa.
Insights
Group B Streptococcus (GBS) vaccines are safe and well-tolerated in adults. Conjugated GBS capsular polysaccharide (CPS) vaccines effectively increase protective antibodies in mothers, potentially safeguarding newborns.
Area of Science:
- Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Neonatology
- Immunology
Background:
- Group B Streptococcus (GBS) causes severe disease in mothers and newborns.
- Maternal vaccination can transfer antibodies to infants, offering protection against early-onset and late-onset GBS disease.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review clinical trials on GBS capsular polysaccharide (CPS) vaccines.
- To assess the safety and immunogenicity of GBS CPS vaccines in pregnant and nonpregnant adults.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of literature databases (PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library).
- Inclusion of 25 unique records on GBS CPS vaccines, with or without conjugant protein.
Main Results:
- GBS vaccines demonstrated good tolerability, with mild local reactions as the primary adverse event.
- Conjugated CPS vaccines significantly increased serotype-specific antibodies (≥fourfold) with 1-2 year longevity.
- Feto-maternal IgG antibody ratios ranged from 0.49 to 0.81, indicating transplacental transfer.
Conclusions:
- GBS CPS vaccines are safe and immunogenic in adults.
- Further research is needed to establish correlates of protection against invasive GBS disease in infants using standardized assays.
Introduction:
Vaccination against group B Streptococcus (GBS) during pregnancy could provide protection against disease in the mother, fetus, and newborn. Immunity through transplacental acquired antibodies in the newborns could persist through early infancy, reducing the risk of early-onset (<7 days age) and late-onset (7-89 days age) disease. We conducted a systematic review of clinical trials on GBS capsular polysaccharide (CPS) vaccine to assess its safety and immunogenicity in pregnant and nonpregnant adults.
Areas Covered:
We searched literature databases PubMed (Medline), Scopus, and the Cochrane library and identified 25 unique records on GBS CPS vaccines with or without conjugant protein.
Expert Commentary:
GBS vaccines were well tolerated, with mild local reactogenicity being the main solicited adverse event and no difference in reporting of other serious adverse events compared to placebo recipients. CPS vaccines conjugated to immunogenic proteins induced ≥fourfold increase of serotype-specific antibodies with high longevity (1-2 years); and capable of promoting homotypic GBS opsonophagocytic killing. Feto-maternal transplacental antibody ratio of serotype-specific IgG ranged between 0.49 and 0.81. The clinical relevance of these immunogenicity studies, however, need to be weighed against a correlate of protection against invasive GBS disease in infants, which is yet to be established using a universally accepted standardized assay.
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