Public Health

What is Haemophilus influenzae Type B?
Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) is a highly contagious bacterium which is known to cause many illnesses, such as meningitis (swelling of the tissue around the brain and spinal cord), epiglottitis (an airway infection that may block the breathing passage and lead to suffocation), and pneumonia. This bacteria does not cause influenza ("flu"). Hib bacteria is widespread in humans and usually lives in the throat and nose without causing illness. Disease is caused when the bacteria break through the body`s defenses.

Who gets Hib and how is it spread?
Hib disease is most common in children two months to three years of age, but can also occur in older children, and occasionally in adolescents and adults. Hib disease is spread through contact with discharges or droplets from the nose or throat of an infected person. Hib disease can spread from person-to-person through sneezing, coughing, or speaking closely with an infected person. A person does not have to have symptoms to spread the bacterium. The incubation period of Hib disease is usually around 2-4 days.

What are the symptoms of Hib and when do they start? The most common and severe manifestation of Hib is meningitis. Symptoms of meningitis include fever, weakness, vomiting, and a stiff neck. Hib can also cause infection of the lungs, blood, joints, bones, throat, and coverings of the heart. Symptoms depend on the part of the body affected. Symptoms usually start 2-4 days after exposure to the bacterium.

What is the treatment for Hib?
If left untreated, the period of contagiousness can last for as long as the bacteria remain in the nose and throat. Treatment with antibiotics should be started immediately to greatly reduce the time one is contagious, and to stop the infection from causing brain damage or death.

Is there a vaccine for Hib? Yes. The Hib vaccine should be administered to children before 5 years of age. Before the introduction of Hib vaccines, this organism was the most frequent cause of life-threatening infection in children under five yearn of age. About 60% of all invasive Hib infection was manifested as meningitis, and most cases occurred in children under 18 months of age. Five percent of cases were fatal and up to 15% of survivors were left with neurological sequelae (e.g., deafness, intellectual impairment).

The best method of prevention is immunization. Infants and young children who are exposed to a child with Hib disease can be given antibiotics to destroy the Hib bacteria they might be carrying and to prevent getting or spreading Hib. Contact a physician for more information.

Wyoming Department of Health
2300 Capitol Ave. Cheyenne WY 82002
(307) 777-7172

(Photo courtesy of Children`s Immunization Project, St. Paul, MN)