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Updated: Dec 15, 2025

Assessing Respiratory Immune Responses to Haemophilus Influenzae
Published on: June 29, 2021
Non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae and purpura fulminans
Vivek Bhika Beechar1, Carolina de la Flor2, Richard J Medford2
1Department of Infectious Disease and Geographic Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, Texas, USA vivek.beechar@phhs.org.
Insights
This case study details a rare instance of invasive non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae infection causing purpura fulminans in an adult. It highlights the bacterium
Area of Science:
- Infectious Diseases
- Hematology
- Critical Care Medicine
Background:
- Haemophilus influenzae commonly affects children.
- Invasive non-typeable H. influenzae infections are rare in adults.
- Purpura fulminans is a severe thrombotic complication of various infections.
Abstract:
Haemophilus influenzae typically causes illness and infection in the paediatric population. We report a case of a 53-year-old man who developed invasive non-typeable H. influenzae infection associated with purpura fulminans and multiorgan failure. On review of the literature, this is the first reported case of non-typeable H. influenzae causing purpura fulminans. The patient was treated with intravenous ceftriaxone 2 g/day and was eventually discharged from the hospital almost 2 months after admission. We discuss the role that infection/sepsis plays in disturbances to the coagulation cascade leading to purpura fulminans and the virulence factors that make non-typeable H. influenzae unique. Finally, we review other cases of H. influenzae associated with purpura fulminans and discuss the similarities with our case.
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