Host and environmental factors associated with Hib in England, 1998-2002

Abstract

The association noted between invasive infection and social deprivation in this and other studies is concerning and merits further investigation. The importance of ongoing surveillance of vaccine-preventable diseases to allow nested studies of this kind was reinforced.

Evolving epidemiology of invasive Haemophilus infections in the post-vaccination era: results from a long-term population-based study

“…The age‐related fatality rate for patients with Hib was 2.4% and for non‐type b Hi infections it was 14%, being highest at the extremes of age, which is in accordance with data from Scandinavia, the United Kingdom and the USA [5,11,30]. With the availability of a conjugated vaccine for NTHi, it may therefore be prudent to study the effectiveness of this vaccine in select groups of adult patients with predisposing conditions, including young women.…”

“…were included, an increase in Hib infections was not noted. This contrasts with the early experience from the United Kingdom [11,12]. In Iceland a booster dose was used from the beginning, which may explain this difference [6].…”

Association of Secondhand Smoke Exposure with Pediatric Invasive Bacterial Disease and Bacterial Carriage: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

“…Dose-response relationships were examined in four invasive meningococcal disease studies [28],[32],[36],[39], three invasive Hib disease studies [47],[50],[51], and one invasive pneumococcal disease study [36]. The studies had used different metrics to measure exposure and dose including number of cigarettes smoked per day and number of household smokers.…”

“…The absence of a consistent definition of exposure meant that a pooled analysis of the dose-response relationship was not possible. Broadly, with the exception of the pneumococcal study and one Hib study, there was a dose-response relationship with the number of cigarettes smoked per day or the number of smokers in the household [28],[32],[36],[39],[47],[50],[51].…”

Bacteria, polysaccharides, vaccines and boosting: measuring and maintaining population immunity

“…This indirect effect is due to the prevention of nasopharyngeal carriage in vaccinated individuals, which halts the spread of the bacterium to susceptible individuals. In this issue of the journal Ladhani and colleagues and McVernon and colleagues describe the impact of the 2003 Hib booster campaign and factors underlying susceptibility to Hib disease 4 5…”