Background: Two strategies have been recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and approved by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology to help prevent group B streptococcal disease in the newborn. Both involve using penicillin in labor. However, the potential for allergic and even anaphylactic reactions to penicillin exists.
Case: A patient was treated for risk factors for group B Streptococcus in labor and suffered a serious anaphylactic reaction to penicillin; it resulted in an emergency cesarean section. Although the patient and infant were eventually discharged, the patient developed disseminated intravascular coagulation and suffered acute tubular necrosis that required dialysis.
Conclusion: Prophylaxis against group B streptococcal sepsis is of proven benefit, but the possible harm to the mother and fetus from treatment with penicillin must be recognized.