Hib vaccine: a critical ally in Asia's efforts to reduce child mortality; study

Routinely vaccinating infants against Hemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), a bacterium that causes deadly Hib pneumonia and meningitis, could save hundreds of thousands of children in Asia, according to a new study from Bangladesh published on-line in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. Results showed that routine immunization of infants with a Hib conjugate vaccine prevented over one-third of life-threatening pneumonia cases and approximately 90% of Hib meningitis cases. A similar impact would be expected in other parts of the region.

Even though countries in Asia with high mortality rates have long known that pneumonia and meningitis are a significant concern, many assumed that Hib was not a major cause. This vaccine study builds the evidence of the real burden of Hib pneumonia and meningitis as has been shown in other studies in Chile and Indonesia, ie, the proportion of pneumonia and meningitis prevented by the Hib conjugate vaccine is significantly higher than that which can be detected through routine surveillance.

Debate on burden of Hib