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50 Years Ago in The Journal of Pediatrics: Susceptibility to Haemophilus influenzae Type b: Lessons from the Past, for the Future
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

50 Years Ago in The Journal of Pediatrics: Susceptibility to Haemophilus influenzae Type b: Lessons from the Past, for the Future

Sarah S Long
The Journal of pediatrics, v 249, pp 74-74
01 Oct 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2022.07.021
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2022.07.021View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Maybe Open Access (Publisher Bronze),  Open

Abstract

According to institutional reports, invasive Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) infections rose in the US in the 1960s and 1970s. At the time of this report from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, of Hib meningitis cases from 1966 through 1970, there was no national reporting of invasive Hib disease, merely Hib-related deaths. This county-level report was important. The rise in Hib meningitis was documented, with a remarkable 1 case per 1600 children younger than 6 years of age in 1970. Age distribution of cases was striking, with risk beginning at 3 through 6 months, peaking at 7 through 12 months, and all but disappearing by 6 years. Occurrence at a young age would inform the need for immunization starting in early infancy. The confinement of cases by age of 6 years, without appreciable upper airway colonization of Hib intervening, was another “find” that would spur subsequent understanding that experience with cross-reacting flora or the environment or both was important in the natural acquisition of protection from Hib with age.

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