Adult hib

Haemophilus influenzae type b Hib disease is a serious disease caused by bacteria. It usually affects children under 5 years old. It can also affect adults with certain medical conditions. Your child can get Hib disease by being around other children or adults who may have the bacteria and not know it.

This page uses "javascript" to display properly. Javascript is not enabled in your browser, so some features on this page may not work correctly. Haemophilus influenzae is a bacteria that has encapsulated typeable or unencapsulated nontypeable strains. Encapsulated strains express one of six antigenically capsular polysaccharides types a, b, c, d, e, or f. Historically, type b Hib was the most common type to cause invasive disease, particularly in young children.

Prior to the introduction of Haemophilus influenzae type b Hib conjugate vaccines, invasive Hib disease affected almost exclusively children. According to some recent studies, in the postvaccine era, adults, the elderly, and immunocompromised persons can be affected more often than children. As the production of type-specific anti-capsular polysaccharide antibodies is the major defense mechanism against Hib, individuals with defects in humoral immune responses have high susceptibility to infections caused by Hib.

How to Pronounce Haemophilus influenzae media icon [MP3]. Haemophilus influenzae type b Hib disease is most common in babies and children younger than 5 years old. CDC recommends Hib vaccination for all children younger than 5 years old. Older children and adults usually do not need a Hib vaccine, unless they have certain medical conditions. Children younger than 5 years old need multiple doses of a Hib vaccine.