A handful of children have been hospitalized for a potentially deadly bacterial infection, alarming some doctors about the possible return of a once-feared contagious disease that vaccines tamed.
Serious cases of Haemophilus influenzae type B, or Hib, once impacted 20,000 children in the United States each year. The disease spreads through coughing or sneezing with respiratory droplets containing bacteria.
Invasive infection included infants and toddlers developing pneumonia, meningitis, septic arthritis, blood infection and swelling in the throat, causing permanent disabilities and death in about 5% of cases, or around 1,000 children annually.
Older doctors have haunting memories of severe illness they saw — of brain swelling and children suffocating.
The Hib vaccine − introduced more than three decades ago and now recommended for all children younger than 5 − drastically cut cases, preventing nearly all vaccinated children from developing disease. Infants receive three or four vaccine doses beginning at 2 months old. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today reports fewer than 50 cases per year, a reduction of more than 99%.
