Development and Clinical Evaluation of a CRISPR-Based Diagnostic for Rapid Group B Streptococcus Screening

• Main Authors: Lingxiao Jiang, Weiqi Zeng, Wanting Wu, Yingying Deng, Fusheng He, Wenli Liang, Mingyao Huang, Hong Huang, Yongjun Li, Xiaorui Wang, Hang Su, Shilei Pan, Teng Xu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2021-09-01
• Series: Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Subjects: group B Streptococcus; CRISPR; rapid diagnostic; screening; bacteria; streptococci
• Online Access: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/27/9/20-0091_article
• ISSN: 1080-6040; 1080-6059

Vertical transmission of group B Streptococcus (GBS) is among the leading causes of neonatal illness and death. Colonization with GBS usually is screened weeks before delivery during pregnancy, on the basis of which preventive measures, such as antibiotic prophylaxis, were taken. However, the accuracy of such an antenatal screening strategy has been questionable because of the intermittent nature of GBS carriage. We developed a simple-to-use, rapid, CRISPR-based assay for GBS detection. We conducted studies in a prospective cohort of 412 pregnant women and a retrospective validation cohort to evaluate its diagnostic performance. We demonstrated that CRISPR-GBS is highly sensitive and offered shorter turnaround times and lower instrument demands than PCR-based assays. This novel GBS test exhibited an overall improved diagnostic performance over culture and PCR-based assays and represents a novel diagnostic for potential rapid, point-of-care GBS screening.