title: Are Haemophilus influenzae infections a significant problem in India? A prospective study and review.
abstract: It has been suggested Haemophilus influenzae serotype b (Hib) disease is uncommon in Asia. During 1993--1997, we conducted prospective surveillance of acute infections caused by H. influenzae in 6 academic referral Indian hospitals. The study included 5798 patients aged 1 month to 50 years who had diseases likely to be caused by H. influenzae; 75% of the patients were aged <5 years. A total of 125 H. influenzae infections were detected, 97% of which were caused by Hib. Of 125 isolates, 108 (86%) were from children aged <5 years, and 11 (9%) were from adults aged >18 years. Sixty-two percent of the patients had meningitis. The case-fatality rate was 11% overall and 20% in infants with Hib meningitis. Up to 60% of all isolates were resistant to chloramphenicol, ampicillin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, or erythromycin; 32% were resistant to >/= 3 antimicrobial drugs, but none were resistant to third-generation cephalosporins. These data suggest that available Hib vaccines will benefit Indian children.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D018432:Drug Resistance, Multiple; D005260:Female; D006192:Haemophilus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000401:mortality; D006193:Haemophilus influenzae; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008583:Meningitis, Haemophilus / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000401:mortality; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011446:Prospective Studies