Research of natural immunity against haemophilus influenzae type B among to 59 months old healthy children living at Doğankent country, in Adana

RESEARCH OF NATURAL IMMUNITY AGAINST HAEMOPHILUS INFLUENZAE TYPE B AMONG 0 TO 59 MONTHS OLD HEALTHY CHILDREN LIVING AT DOGANKENT COUNTY, IN ADANA. ABSTRACT Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) is the leading cause of invasive diseases of the childhood. Invasive EGb diseases are frequently observed under 5 years of age, but mainly from 3 months to 3 years of age. This high frequency under 5 years is explained with the insufficiency of immune response at these ages. The most frequent clinical presentations are menengitis, cellulitis, epiglottitis, artritis and pneumonia. The frequency of invasive Hib infections under 5 years changes from 2 to 450 per 100 000. This large spectrum is explained with socio-economic and georaphical diversities between regions or countries. Starting from the fact that epidemiological studies related to Hib diseases in Turkey are insufficient, it was aimed with this study to determine the natural immunity level against Hib among healthy children younger than 5 years of age and the affecting factors. The study group consisted of 400 children (30.5%) selected by age stratified-sampling method among 1309 children, under 5 years of age, registered at Primary Hearth Center of Dogankent County. Blood sera were collected from 380 (95.0%) children. The analyses revealed that 53.4% of the children had natural immunity against Hib, with the lowest values between 6-11 months of age (41.3%) and the highest values between 48-59 months. The children with history of an infection resembling Hib had higher immunity (61.3%), while sere-negative children had more frequent attacks of diseases with fever, at last 6 months. Gender, number of siblings, household number of persons, education or bad habits of parents and monthly income of the family had no relation with the natural Hib immunity. The sensitivity of nearly half of the children under 5 years of age for invasive Hib diseases or the complications, is an important public health concern. It is therefore suggested the introduction of conjugated Hib vaccines into the routine immunization program in Turkey like it has been in U.S. A, Canada, Great Britain and the emphasis for epidemiological studies for these diseases. Key Words:Hib, natural immunity for Hib. vn tc yükseköğretim kurulu WKOMlWnWON MERKEZİ