The Disease

Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) is a bacterium (bug) that can cause a variety of serious diseases including meningitis, blood poisoning, pneumonia and epiglottitis – a serious infection of part of the throat. Over half the cases of serious, or invasive, Hib disease are meningitis; whilst most children are successfully treated with antibiotics, around 1 in 35 will die. Hib also causes less serious problems such as ear infections.

Though the disease is an infection that can be caught, the Hib bug also lives up the nose of many people without doing any harm at all.

Before vaccination was introduced, around 1,000 children under 5 became ill with invasive Hib disease every year in England and Wales. Of these over 900 made a complete recovery, but 35 died, and 70 became permanently disabled.

Around 1 in 700 children caught one of the potentially serious forms of ‘invasive’ Hib infection at some time before the age of 5. The disease is rare in children over the age of 5.

The Vaccine

The Hib vaccine has been given as part of the UK national immunisation schedule since 1992. When given at 2, 3 and 4 months, the vaccine offers good protection, but this only lasts for about a year; a booster early in the second year of life is necessary to maintain protection until the age of 5.

Some researchers believe that the Hib vaccine can occasionally cause diabetes in children, though others claim there is no evidence of a link.^{1 2}

The vaccine can cause a fever, loss of appetite, restlessness, vomiting, diarrhoea and unusual crying.

The choices

Hiberix
Type of vaccine:	Single Hib vaccine
Manufacturer:	GlaxoSmithKline
Protects against:	Hib
Active ingredients:	10µg capsular polysaccharide of Hib
Mercury content:	Nil
Aluminium content:	Nil
Other ingredients:	30 µg tetanus toxoid (as conjugate) Lactose
Primary course:	If given under one year of age: 3 doses If given over 13 months of age: 1 dose
Boosters:	Single dose from 12 months if primary course completed before 12 months

Menitorix
Type of vaccine:	Double Hib & Men C vaccine
Manufacturer:	GlaxoSmithKline
Protects against:	Hib Men C
Active ingredients:	5µg capsular polysaccharide of Hib 5µg capsular polysaccharide of Men C
Mercury content:	Nil
Aluminium content:	Nil
Other ingredients:	17.5 µg tetanus toxoid (as conjugate) Trometamol Sucrose
Primary course:	3 doses given during the first year of life
Boosters:	Single dose from 12 months of age

The supply of single and small combination vaccines may change over time. At BabyJabs we are on the constant lookout for safe and effective vaccines to offer your child. We may obtain different vaccines to those listed above. We will only offer you alternative vaccines if we are completely confident of their safety and efficacy.


Go back to vaccines at a glance

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¹ Classen JB. Classen DC. Clustering of cases of insulin dependent diabetes (IDDM) occurring three years after hemophilus influenza B (HiB) immunization support causal relationship between immunization and IDDM. Autoimmunity 2002; 35(4): 247-53.

² DeStefano F et al. Vaccine Safety Datalink Team. Childhood vaccinations, vaccination timing, and risk of type 1 diabetes mellitus. Pediatrics 2001; 108(6): E112.