Bacterial Meningitis in the United States in 1995

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 337; no. 14; pp. 970 - 976
• Main Authors: Schuchat, Anne, Robinson, Katherine, Wenger, Jay D, Harrison, Lee H, Farley, Monica, Reingold, Arthur L, Lefkowitz, Lewis, Perkins, Bradley A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, MA Massachusetts Medical Society 02-10-1997
• Subjects: Antimicrobial agents; Bacterial diseases; Bacterial diseases of the nervous system. Bacterial myositis; Biological and medical sciences; Human bacterial diseases; Infectious diseases; Laboratories; Medical sciences; Meningitis; Microbiology; Population; Streptococcus infections; Vaccines; United States; North America; America; United States > US; Tennessee; Infection; Pasteurellaceae; Human; Nervous system diseases; Central nervous system disease; Bacteriosis; Bacteria; Meningitis; Epidemiology; Age; Haemophilus influenzae; Incidence
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJM199710023371404

Few medical advances in recent decades have affected pediatric infectious diseases as much as conjugate vaccines against
Haemophilus influenzae
type b disease.
1
In the United States, before the advent of conjugate vaccines,
H. influenzae
type b meningitis or invasive disease developed in nearly 1 in 200 children by five years of age,
2
and 70 percent of bacterial meningitis among children under five was attributable to
H. influenzae.
3
Now, reports of dramatic declines in the disease from several countries after conjugate vaccines entered routine use suggest that the elimination of the disease may be attainable.
4
–
7
The near elimination of
H.
. . .