Re: has a new bug (for her)

[Guest guest]

Hi, h. flu is not one of the BIGGIES for us wcf, but what I don't understand, as

there is a childhood vaccine for it, is why we are not all vaccinated for it--at

least the children! Love to all at cfparents, n Rojas

has a new bug (for her)

Hi all,

The cf nurse just called me back and said 's culture is growing

Hemophilus Influenza, heavy growth, and staph moderate. No Pseudomonas. She

has never had the H. flu.that I know of. She is on Bactrim and the nurse said

that would cover it, but she isn't sure about the staph. They may add another

antibiotic to treat that. So waiting for her to call back again. UGH. H flu

isn't a real bad actor is it? I seem to remember it being pretty easy to treat.

As for how she is doing, better but still not great. She didn't go to school

today. Still coughing.

love,

M

[Guest guest]

n,

I know my 3 kids got the HiB vaccine, but is older, so maybe

it was not required or available when she was little. In the state of

TN, Shelby county schools to be exact, is mandatory. Unlees, of

course, there is a religion or health issue.

> Hi, h. flu is not one of the BIGGIES for us wcf, but what I don't

understand, as

> there is a childhood vaccine for it, is why we are not all

vaccinated for it--at

> least the children! Love to all at cfparents, n Rojas

> has a new bug (for her)

>

>

> Hi all,

> The cf nurse just called me back and said 's culture is

growing Hemophilus Influenza, heavy growth, and staph moderate. No

Pseudomonas. She has never had the H. flu.that I know of. She is on

Bactrim and the nurse said that would cover it, but she isn't sure

about the staph. They may add another antibiotic to treat that. So

waiting for her to call back again. UGH. H flu isn't a real bad

actor is it? I seem to remember it being pretty easy to treat. As

for how she is doing, better but still not great. She didn't go to

school today. Still coughing.

>

> love,

> M

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

,

HiB is a really nasty bug, specially on little kids, it can cause

meningitis, but on CF patients is one of the bugs that like to take

temp residency in their lungs.

I hope has a speedy recovery, I know she is sick of being

inside and ready to go play. The good news is that the winter is

almost over!! YEAH!!!

Lots of good vibes to ,

> Hi all,

> The cf nurse just called me back and said 's culture is

growing Hemophilus Influenza, heavy growth, and staph moderate. No

Pseudomonas. She has never had the H. flu.that I know of. She is on

Bactrim and the nurse said that would cover it, but she isn't sure

about the staph. They may add another antibiotic to treat that. So

waiting for her to call back again. UGH. H flu isn't a real bad

actor is it? I seem to remember it being pretty easy to treat. As

for how she is doing, better but still not great. She didn't go to

school today. Still coughing.

>

> love,

> M

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I believe that HiB and Haemophilus Influenza (not flu) are two different

bugs and there are two different vaccines for them.

The first is related to meningitis. Haemophilus Influenza is not.

M

[Guest guest]

look what I found on this bugger, wow!

I think you are right!

Haemophilus Influenzae Type b

Haemophilus influenza, a gram negative coccobacilli, is a bacterial

agent that causes disease globally. There are six serological types

of of Haemophilus influenza, types a, b, c, d, and e. These separate

types are determined based on the antigen structure of the capsular

polysaccharides recognized by the host immune system. Haemophilus

influenza type b (Hib) is one of the causative agents of bacterial

meningitis, which is particularly prevalent in children under five

years of age.

Epidemiology

The symptoms associated with Hib infection are fever, lethargy,

vomiting, and stiff neck.[17] Hib infection can be diagnosed by gram

staining of the cerebrospinal fluid, by detecting capsular material,

or by culturing Hib organisms on chocolate agar.[18]

Gram-negative stain of Haemophilus influenzae. Source: University of

Minessota Medical School [20]

If infected, an individual can be treated with a variety of

antibiotics, such as ampicillin, chloramphenicol, and rifampin, and

with cephalosporins which have bacteriocidal activity and can cross

the blood-brain barrier. [17,18] In terms of prevention of Hib

infection, vaccines have played an important role in the reduction of

disease cases. Dramatic evidence of the efficacy of the vaccine is

apparent through several sources of data. For example, before 1988,

when conjugate Hib vaccines were first introduced, Hib invasive

disease was the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in children

in the United States. Several years later, in the early 1990's, a

drastic reduction of greater than 95% was seen in the incidence of

Hib invasive disease. [16] These stifling numbers raise interest in

the function and form of such a vaccine.

Mode of Infection and the Immune Response

Haemophilus influenza type b is transmitted through direct contact

with mucousal fluid from an infected person or by contact with

droplets from the nose and/or throat of that person.[18] The organism

colonizes in the nasopharynx area and can penetrate the epithelium to

produce a bacteremia where the organism has localized in many organs

throughout the body.[18]

The immune response to such an infection as described above is mostly

a humoral response. The major immunogenic factor present on Hib is

the polyribosylribitol phosphate (PRP) capsule.[15]

Haemophilus influenzae genome. Source: NIH [21]

This capsule is a T-independent antigen and posseses characteristics

of this sort of antigen. T-independent antigens generally are able to

elicit a B cell response without contribution from T helper cells.

The activated B cells secrete PRP-specific antibodies.[15] However

this antibody response is weaker than humoral response elicited by T-

dependent antigens.[15] Other distinguishing features of the T-

independent B cell response are that no B memory cells are produced,

the antibody response is primarily IgM dominant, and there is no

affinity maturation of the antibodies.[14] These responses are

shorter lived and less specific than responses elicited by T-

dependent antigens.[14]

Vaccine Strategies

Knowledge of the immune response led to developments in the research

on Hib vaccines. It is known that higher levels of PRP-specific

antibodies are correlated to decreased risk of Hib invasive disease.

[15] In the 1970's polysaccharide vaccines derived from PRP were

being developed in hopes that these vaccines would be able to elicit

a response that produced bactericidal serum. These vaccines were

shown to be 90% effective but only in children two years of age an

older and only for a short period of time. [15] Further studies on

these vaccines showed them to be variably effective. In the 1980's,

the conjugate vaccine approach was investigated based on findings of

Goebel and Avery that a T-independent antigen could be changed to a T-

dependent antigen by conjugation to a protein carrier. [14] The PRP

protein was conjugated to a number of protein carriers including

tetanus toxoid, diphtheria toxoid, mutant diphtheria toxin, and outer-

membrane protein. [14] These vaccines are more advantageous than

polysaccharide vaccines because they are immunogenic in very young

children, even at two months of age, and they elicit longer lasting

responses.[14] They also elicit a memory response which can be

determined by rapidity of response to a challenge of pure PRP or by

an increase in antibody avidity to pure PRP. The antibody responses

to the conjugate vaccines are primarily IgG1 and some IgG2. Another

advantage of the conjugate vaccines is that they influence herd

immunity by reducing person-to-person spread of the organism by not

only protecting the host from infection, but also by protecting the

host from being a carrier. [14] These characteristics of the

conjugate Hib vaccines explain the stifling drop of Hib invasive

disease in the U.S.

Average annual incidence of Haemophilus influenzae invasive disease

among persons of all ages, by country, United States, 1994-1995.

Source: e M. Bisgard. [21]

Any comments or questions? Contact Sheela Joshi.

[Epidemiology] [Home] [Neisseria meningitidis]

> I believe that HiB and Haemophilus Influenza (not flu) are two

different

> bugs and there are two different vaccines for them.

>

> The first is related to meningitis. Haemophilus Influenza is not.

>

> M

[Guest guest]

Thanks ! We live in southern CA so we don't have much winter but it has

been rainy lately. is doing better I think, but if she isn't up for

school Monday I think I will see about getting her a chest x-ray. Someone else

said the one time they had pneumonia they had a combo of h flu and staph. I

don't really think she is that sick but it might put my mind to rest.

love,

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the info. I am not sure if was vaccinated for this. I know

she was for Hepatitis B. I think she might have gotten this shot when it came

out. She would have been 4 then.

love,

Re: has a new bug (for her)

look what I found on this bugger, wow!

I think you are right!

[Guest guest]

Hi n,

We have changed doctors a couple of times since she was a baby and I didn't

forward all the records. So I do have both my kids records from when they were

babies I could go through them and find out if I took the time!

thanks

M

[Guest guest]

, just ask her doctor? I always lost track, so finally just kept

a vaccination record for each kid in a file on my computer--silly, I

know, but there are so many vaccinations now that we did not have

when I was young--thank heavens! Love, n

Re: has a new bug (for her)

Hi, h. flu is not one of the BIGGIES for us wcf, but what I don't

understand, as

there is a childhood vaccine for it,

[Guest guest]

Smart you!!! Thank you for letting us know! n

Re: has a new bug (for her)

Hi n,

We have changed doctors a couple of times since she was a baby and I didn't

forward all the records. So I do have both my kids records from when they were

babies I could go through them and find out if I took the time!

thanks

M