[Invasive Haemophilus influenzae type B infections in infancy (1981-1990)]

We report the epidemiology of invasive Haemophilus influenzae type B infections. The study is based on 58 children and was carried out during the years from 1981 to 1990. Sixty-three percent of the patients had meningitis, 10.3% had arthritis, 10.3% had epiglottitis, 8.6% had cellulitis and 6.9% had pneumonia. Thirteen percent of the cases were children who were less than 6 months old, 34.4% were less than 12 months old, 70.6% were less than 24 months of age and 93% were less than 4 years old. Among the latter, 90% of the children with epiglottis or pneumonia were 24 months or older compared with 16% of the patients with meningitis, arthritis or cellulitis (p < 0.001). Sixty-three percent of the isolated strains of Haemophilus influenzae type B were resistant to ampicillin and 19.2% of the strains were resistant to ampicillin and chloramphenicol.