What Are the Causes of Haemophilus Influenzae?

Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) is a bacterium that causes invasive diseases, including pneumonia, epiglottitis, meningitis, and brain infections in young children.

Causes

• The Hib bacterium lives in the nose and throat and can do so without causing any illness. It is only when the bacterium invades the body's defenses that disease results. Usually other factors, such as a suppressed immune system, create opportunities for Hib.

Spreading Hib Disease

• The bacterium is spread via contact with drops or discharge from the nose or throat of a person who's infected. Coughing and sneezing thus help communicate the germs. Note that a person can spread the bacterium without having any symptoms of disease.

Symptoms

• Meningitis (the swelling of the tissue covering the brain and spinal cord) is the most common disease resulting from the Hib bacterium. Its symptoms include fever, vomiting, joint stiffness (particularly in the neck), and weakness. This bacterium can also cause infections in other parts of the body, including the lungs, throat, bones, and blood.

Risk Groups

• Very young children (three months to two years) are the ones most likely to contract Hib disease. It rarely occurs in children over five years of age. Also, American Indian and Inuit populations have a higher risk of contagion.

Treatment and Prevention

• Antibiotics should be the first course of treatment. Children who have been exposed to another child with Hib disease can be treated with rifampin, an antibiotic that destroys the bacterium in order to prevent disease and further contagion.

Vaccination

• Hib disease is now uncommon because of the development of the Hib conjugate vaccine. It is highly effective and can be given to infants at age two months. According to the Center for Disease Control, "rates of disease among children younger than 5 years old have declined by more than 95% in the United States."