Intrafamily Spread of Haemophilus

Comparative laboratory evaluation of three antigen detection methods for diagnosis of Haemophilus influenzae type b disease

“…(v) One case of pneumonia (patient 5) was in a child whose older sibling had a culture-positive case of H. influenzae b epiglottitis. There have been reports of the increased incidence of the disease in siblings of H. influenzae disease patients (18). (vi) Pericarditis patient 6, pneumonia patient 8, and meningitis patient 9 had positive LA tests on two different clinical specimens each.…”

Susceptibility of Haemophilus influenzae Type b to Rifampin and Sulfisoxazole

“…It can be seen that the majority of strains have MICs within attainable salivary concentrations of both sulfisoxazole and rifampin, making the elimination of H. influenzae from the nasopharynx theoretically feasible. If nasopharyngeal colonization is the route by which household contacts of index cases acquire H. influenzae, as has been suggested (9), and if the risk of major disease in these infected contacts is confirmed (Filice et al, 17th ICAAC, 1977), then chemoprophylaxis, in the meningococcal tradition, is a logical next step. Data are presented to indicate that sulfisoxazole or rifampin deserves consideration for this task.…”

“…Clustering of cases of Haemophilus influenzae type b infection both inside and outside the family unit has been the subject of a recent review (9). A current survey suggests that the risk of major disease in household contacts of patients with serious H. influenzae infection may approach that seen with meningococcal sepsis (G. A. Filice, J. S. Andrews, Jr., M. D. Hudgins, and D. W. Fraser, Program Abstr.…”

Haemophilus influenzae epiglottitis occurring simultaneously in two siblings

“…Secondary cases occurred in 0.5%-6% depending on the child's age [5]. The time interval between disease among siblings ranged from 1 !8a day to months [8]. The pharyngeal HITB carrier rate for siblings of patients with bacterial epiglottitios was found to be about 39% [3].…”