Timely Recognition and Prevention of Late Onset GBS Sepsis

7/23/2019

Ozlem Equils, MD, FAAP

Ozlem Equils, MD, FAAP
Ozlem Equils is a board certified Pediatrician. She is a NIH and March of Dimes funded, past Associate Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, UCLA School of Medicine. Dr. Equils is the founder and president of an educational, public health, non-profit called MiOra (miora.org), with a mission to improve the diversity in STEM and healthcare fields. She is a patented scientist with a new medical device in development. The device will help identify women at risk for poor pregnancy outcome. Dr Equils is a member of the Cedars Sinai Biosafety Committee, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society training committee, advisory board of UCLA Master of Applied Statistics, and executive committees of Immunize LA Families Coalition and Immunization Coalition of LA County.

Amy Grey

7/24/2019 07:07:34 am

You mentioned that GBS can be spread through intercourse. Can condoms prevent the spread?

Ozlem Equils

7/24/2019 04:14:47 pm

Condom have not shown to be very effective

Group B Strep International

7/24/2019 07:36:04 am

Thank you, Dr. Equils, for your very thorough presentation! A must-view for late-onset recognition and prevention. The slides of benign infant rashes vs. GBS cellulitis are very helpful.

Ozlem Equils

7/24/2019 04:15:47 pm

I am very happy to hear that!

Louisa Sandoval

7/24/2019 08:15:47 am

Would it be beneficial for partners and family members to be cultured before the baby's birth? My line of thought is that, especially if a woman tested negative, the mother could try to avoid colonization of her and her baby from those around her

Ozlem Equils

7/24/2019 04:22:22 pm

Thank you for this question. Although there are no established guidelines, I would be more likely to culture the family members if the mother is positive and/or there is a sibling with history of GBS infection. If the mother is negative, it is most likely that the partner and the family are also GBS negative. I would not culture the partner and the family members of a GBS negative mother, with negative prior history of GBS infected infant

Thadie Ngubo

7/24/2019 11:33:52 am

On the topic of hygiene and breastmilk. Like handwashing, I wonder if cleaning the breast before feedings would be practical. Also the cleaning of bras would be an interesting point of discussion as there can be milk residue and some women may not frequently wash them.

Ozlem Equils

7/24/2019 04:28:27 pm

Great comment! Absolutely! I would recommend cleaning the breasts with warm water, or warm water and gentle soap with a good rinse, before breast feeding, and frequently washing the bra with hot water and soap (every one to two weeks )

Diana Dunsmore

7/24/2019 04:22:29 pm

Your presentation contains so much valuable information! I so wish this had been available last year when my grandson developed LO GBSD and the physicians at the ER/hospital ICU followed none of these practices or seemed aware of any of these issues. There was even ambivalence to testing the breast milk when requested after 6 weeks of anitbiotics for his sepsis and meningitis! So much education still needed. Thank you for your work in this area!
Diana

Ozlem Equils

7/25/2019 07:50:29 am

Thank you for your comments! Yes, more education is needed! One of the ways to expedite this is to develop an app that can be incorporated into the hospitals' EMR system (just like the Kaiser permanente early sepsis screener). When parents bring a baby to the ER with fever, the EMR prompts the nurse/Dr to take the appropriate steps. That way things are not missed

Ozlem Equils link

7/25/2019 11:06:57 pm

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at [email protected]

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