childhood diseases -
haemophilus influenzae b
(HIB)

Haemophilus influenzae type b (or Hib for short) is not actually a disease. It is a bacterium that can cause various diseases and is most harmful in children from 3 months to 4 years old. It has been shown to be an important cause of childhood meningitis and a major cause of bacterial pneumonia in children.

The Hib bacteria live harmlessly in the mucus in the back of the nose and throat of 1 in 10 people. If the immune system is weak, the bacteria can pass into the blood system and the brain. It is spread by close contact, such as coughs and sneezes, or, for example, if you wipe children’s noses with the same hanky, nasal mucus is passed from one child to the other.

Hib most commonly leads to meningitis (in approximately 60% of cases); epiglottitis in 15% of cases (a potentially dangerous swelling of the air passages, restricting your child’s breathing); and septicaemia, or blood poisoning in 10% of cases.

Other illnesses caused by Hib infection are septic arthritis, osteomyelitis (inflammation of the bone), cellulitis (inflammation of the tissues under the skin), pneumonia and pericarditis (inflammation of the protective membrane of the heart).

What are the symptoms of Hib meningitis?

Symptoms for meningitis come on very suddenly. It is essential that you get your child to hospital immediately. Your child will have a high fever, a severe headache, and a stiff neck. She will start vomiting, and shivering, she’ll have cold hands and feet, with rapid breathing, and be intolerant to light. She’ll become drowsy, and have stomach and joint pains. In babies there may also be a bulging fontanelle, (the soft spot on top of her head), and she’ll have a stiff body with jerky movements. Hib meningitis sufferers tend not to get a rash.

If treatment begins early enough, recovery is usually good. A small proportion of children who are not treated early enough will die from the disease. Nowadays, 95% of people with Hib meningitis survive. In 1999, only one person died from Hib meningitis. Of those who survive, some have serious and lasting disabilities. This may include deafness, mental deficiency, cerebral palsy and epilepsy. One UK study showed that about 1 in 10 Hib sufferers were left with permanent brain damage.

What is the treatment for Hib?

You will need to get your child to hospital immediately. She will then be treated with a course of antibiotics. Antibiotics may also reduce the chance of deafness after the illness.