Background: Although, GBS is a natural flora of the ano-rectal region, it may colonize vagina and many infants can be infected during the passage through the birth canal. It has emerged as a leading cause of neonatal infections and deaths. Objectives: To estimate the rate of recto-vaginal carriage of GBS among pregnant females, describe its antimicrobial susceptibility profile and to detect some of its virulence genes by multiplex PCR. Methodology: Vaginal, anorectal and neonatal throat swabs which were collected from two-hundred and fifty pregnant women were inoculated in Todd-Hewitt broth for 24 hours then inoculated on blood agar plates. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing for GBS isolates was done and its virulence genes (scpB, bca, rib and HvgA) were identified by PCR. Also, the relation between these virulence genes and antimicrobial susceptibility was studied. Results: Among 250 pregnant females, 36(14.4%) were identified as GBS carriers with exclusive vaginal and anorectal colonization rates of 4% and 10.4% respectively. All isolates were susceptible to penicillin, ampicillin, cefepime, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, vancomycin and linezolid. On the other hand, 19.4%, 80.6%, 44.4% and 13.9% of GBS isolates were resistant to each of erythromycin and azithromycin, tetracycline, levofloxacin and clindamycin respectively. ScpB, rib, and Hvg-A genes were identified in 100%, 69.4% and 33.3% of GBS isolates respectively. None of them had the bca gene. Conclusion: Screening for GBS colonization of pregnant females is recommended and determination of virulence and different surface proteins would be relevant for better diagnosis and further possible formulation of a vaccine

Background: Female sexual function is the ability to achieve sexual arousal, lubrication, orgasm, and satisfaction, which results in a state of wellness and a life with good quality. Some women experience sexual dysfunction (SD), which is an important public health problem. Objective: To study the effect of commonly used contraceptive methods on female sexual function. Patients and methods: A cross sectional-controlled study on 314 female divided into two groups, study group of 164 females taking one of the common contraceptive methods and a control group of 150 females were not on any method. Each one answered the questions of the female sexual function index questionnaire (FSFI) and a female sexual dysfunction (FSD) was diagnosed when the FSFI total score was< 26.55. Results: There was a statistically significant difference between FSFI scores of the study group (28.40±5.92) with that of the control group (31.34±4.83) in each domain except pain. And a significant lower FSFI scores among depomedroxy progesterone acetate (DMPA) and progestin only pills (POP) subgroups in comparison to controls and other subgroups. However, no significant difference was found between FSFI scores of the combined oral contraceptive (COC) subgroup and control group in each domain except for satisfaction, also no difference was found between the intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD) subgroup scores and control group in each domain. Moreover, large percent of impaired sexual function (40%, 16.9%) was in DMPA and POP group. 53% of good sexual function cases had not any contraception and 15% were on IUCD. Conclusion: Progestin only contraceptives were associated with impairment of FSF; the injectable was worse than the POP while neither IUDs users nor participants on combined oral pills (COP) suffered from impaired sexual function.