NEW THIS MONDAY: W.H.O., HAEMOPHILUS INFLUENZAE TYPE B (HIB) VACCINATION POSITION PAPER – JULY 2013

Saturday, 28th of September 2013

NEW THIS MONDAY: W.H.O., HAEMOPHILUS INFLUENZAE TYPE B (HIB) VACCINATION

POSITION PAPER – JULY 2013

Excerpt below; full text is at http://www.who.int/wer/2013/wer8839.pdf

There is no conclusive evidence of differences in the immune response to monovalent or combined Hib conjugate vaccines.24 However, there is some evidence that Hib conjugate vaccine in combination with acellular pertussis (DTaP-Hib) induces a lower antibody response than Hib conjugate in combination with whole cell pertussis

(DTwP-Hib) or separately administered DTaP and Hib conjugate vaccines.

The introduction of Hib vaccine has dramatically reduced reported Hib diseases in the countries using it, regardless of their levels of development and economic status.11

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies of the clinical effectiveness of Hib vaccines against meningitis, pneumonia and other forms of invasive Hib disease have demonstrated that Hib vaccine effectively protects against these diseases.13, 25, 26

Major declines in levels of nasopharyngeal Hib colonization have also been observed following introduction of Hib conjugate vaccines. This has led to substantially greater reduction in disease incidence than can be directly attributed to the effects of the vaccine, suggesting that widespread use of the vaccine has resulted in the induction of herd protection.26

Vaccination schedules

Available evidence suggests that at least 3 doses are needed to achieve high vaccine efficacy and effectiveness. These can be administered as 3 primary doses without a booster (3p+0) or with a booster (3p+1), or 2 primary doses with a booster (2p+1).