Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Hemophilus Influenza Serotype B

There has been an outbreak of Hemophilus Influeza Serotype B infection in Minnesota. This involved 5 underimmunized children younger than 3 years old, including one death. This serious disease has benn uncommon since we started the routine use of the Hib vaccine which began in 1990. There has been a Hib shortage in December 2007 and it was suggested to hold off on the immunization of the Hib for children from 12-15 months of age. The shortage should be expected to last till the mid-2009. We can not but emphasize the importance that vaccines protect our children from these serious diseases.

Invasive Hemophilus disease can cause pneumonia, meningitis, epiglottitis( I graduated in 1998 and I have not seen a single case of epiglottitis), septic arthritis, cellulitis, ear infections and affects other organ systems.Since the vaccine was instituted the rates of disease among children younger than 5 years old has declined by more than 95%. Please make sure your children get the required immunizations at the appropriate time.

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