title: Duration of pharyngeal carriage of Haemophilus influenzae type b in children hospitalized with systemic infections.
abstract: We prospectively enrolled 38 children with suspected Haemophilus influenzae type b (HIB) infection to study the duration of pharyngeal carriage of HIB after the initiation of intravenous antibiotics (IVAB). Cultures were obtained on admission and then every 48 hours using antiserum agar plates to detect HIB. The mean age of the patients was 15.8 months (range, 3 months to 4 years). A total of 105 pharyngeal cultures were done on antiserum agar plates. Of 27 cultures done within 24 hours of initiation of IVAB 11 (40.7%) were positive. The mean time from the initiation of IVAB until the time of the first culture was 5.4 hours in the positive vs. 13.0 hours in the negative patients (P = 0.02). Six of 6 children cultured before receiving IVAB and 5 of 32 cultured after one or more doses of IVAB were positive (P = 0.001). One patient was positive after 13 doses of IVAB, but his organism was resistant to the antibiotics given. Reculture 48 hours after the initiation of an effective antimicrobial was negative. Thirty-three patients had more than one culture obtained, but no child had more than one positive culture. HIB was not recovered from throat culture of any child beyond 14 hours of IVAB. Administration of an effective antimicrobial for 24 hours is sufficient to suppress colonization with HIB.
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002353:Carrier State / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003428:Cross Infection; D006192:Haemophilus Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000635:transmission; D006193:Haemophilus influenzae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008583:Meningitis, Haemophilus / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000635:transmission; D009960:Oropharynx / Q000382:microbiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents