Research Article Molecular Characterization of Streptococcus agalactiae Isolates from Pregnant Women in Kathmandu City Kusum Shrestha, 1,2 Anil Kumar Sah, 3 Neetu Singh, 4 Pramila Parajuli , 1 and Rameshwar Adhikari 2 1 Department of Microbiology, St. Xavier’s College, Maitighar, Kathmandu, Nepal 2 Research Center for Applied Science and Technology (RECAST), Tribhuvan University, Kritipur, Kathmandu, Nepal 3 Annapurna Neurological Institute and Allied Sciences, Annapurna Research Center, Maitighar, Kathmandu, Nepal 4 Manmohan Memorial Medical College and Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal CorrespondenceshouldbeaddressedtoPramilaParajuli;parajuli.p@sxc.edu.npand RameshwarAdhikari;nepalpolymer@yahoo.com Received 29 March 2020; Accepted 6 July 2020; Published 28 August 2020 AcademicEditor:AdityaPrasadDash Copyright©2020KusumShresthaetal.isisanopenaccessarticledistributedundertheCreativeCommonsAttribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properlycited. Introduction.GroupBstreptococci(GBS)aregloballyrecognizedasoneoftheleadingcausesofneonatalsepsisandmeningitis andisalsoknowntocauseadversepregnancyoutcomessuchasstillbirthsandmiscarriages.us,detailedinvestigationofGBSin pregnantwomenhasspecialsignificanceinpublichealthrelatedresearches. Objectives.epresentstudyisaimedatevaluating theprevalenceofGBScolonizationamongpregnantwomeninKathmanducity. Methods.estudywascarriedoutamong125 pregnantwomenattheirtrimester(35–37weeks)(duringthetimeperiodbetweenJanuaryandJunein2018).eprevalencewas determinedbytheculturemethodinHiCromeStrepBSelectiveAgarBaseandthenbyusingthePCRtechnique.eserotypes were evaluated by multiplex PCR analysis, while the antibiotics susceptibility tests were performed using the disk diffusion method. Results.Among125samplesstudied,GBSwererecordedin24samples(implyingaprevalenceof19.2%).Furthermore, using the multiplex PCR, among 24 GBS-positive samples, 13 (54.17%) were found to be typeable while 11 (45.83%) were nontypeable.emostabundantserotyperecordedinthisstudywastypeIII(33.33)whiletheserotypesIV,V,VI,VII,andVIII werenotfound. Conclusion.eisolatesweresensitivetowardssomeantibioticssuchaslinezolidandceftriaxone100%,whereas penicillin50%andvancomycin75%butwereresistanttotetracyclineandertapenem.SerotypeIIIwasfoundtobepredominantin thesamplescollectedduringthestudyperiod.eobservedprevalencewassignificantlyassociatedwiththegestationalperiod, whereasnorelationshipwasfoundforotherriskfactors. 1. Introduction Streptococcus agalactiae is the leading bacteria for causing earlyneonatalmorbidityandmortality[1].Itisgloballywell knownasoneoftheleadingcausesofneonatalsepsisand meningitis and also is known to cause adverse pregnancy outcomes such as stillbirth and miscarriages [2]. It is a Gram-positive, β-hemolytic opportunistic bacterium [3] thatisfoundtocolonizethegenitalandgastrointestinaltract of 10–40% of healthy women. Maternal colonization with GBSisthemajorriskfactorforthedevelopmentofinvasive neonatal disease [4] and also is an important cause of infectionstoelderlyindividualsandimmune-compromised patients [5]. Based on the capsular polysaccharide (CPS) antigens, GBS are classified into 13 serotypes. Among 13 variants,9variants,Ia,Ib,II,III,IV,V,VI,VII,andVIII,are considered as clinically important [6]. e capsular poly- saccharides of GBS isolates are the important virulence factorswithantiphagocyticpurposesandthereforeareused asthekeycomponentsofdevelopingnewmultivalentGBS vaccines [4]. e CPS has been used for serotype identifi- cation [7]. e GBS are distributed differently among age, parity, socioeconomic status, geographic region, sexual behavior,andsoon,whichmaychangeovertimeperiod[8]. Hindawi Journal of Tropical Medicine Volume 2020, Article ID 4046703, 9 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/4046703