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An investigation of the family background of acute haemophilus infections of children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

D. C. Turk
D. C. Turk
Affiliation:
Bacteriology Department and Regional Public Health Laboratory, Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford OX2 6HE
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Nose and throat swabs, for culture of Haemophilus influenzae type b, and blood samples, for measurement of antibodies specific for that serotype, were collected from members of 28 families from which children had been admitted to hospital with acute H. influenzae type b infections (mainly meningitis or epiglottitis). The patients with meningitis were younger than those with epiglottitis and had more siblings, with a marked predominance of sisters. Investigations within a few days of admission of the affected children to hospital detected carriers of H. influenzae type b (19 altogether) in 13 of the 28 families, including 9 of the 13 families with 3 or more children. Members with raised antibody titres for H. influenzae type b (suggesting the presence of the organism for at least a few weeks) were found in 17 of the 25 families from which blood samples were obtained, including all 11 families with 3 or more children. Most of the patients probably acquired their infections from within their own families, and siblings under 11 years old were of predominant importance both as carriers and as potential sources of the patients' infections. Persistence of the organism within families for up to 6 months was demonstrated. Possible reasons for the difference in age-incidence between haemophilus meningitis and epiglottitis and for the occurrence of the former in babies with older sisters are suggested, and also a possible connexion between the results of this survey and the likely value of immunization against H. influenzae type b.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Hygiene , Volume 75 , Issue 2 , October 1975 , pp. 315 - 332
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1975

References

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