Hib. Need Info.

[cynotgirl]

Hello.

I'm only on the fence about one vaccine, and it's Hib.:

I could use some input.

Has anyone known a person who had Hib?

It is the only disease that I would want to protect E from....

any input is greatly appreciated.

[Jen123]

Check out Randall Neustaedter's book The Vaccine Guide.

TONS of good info in there.

The hib vaccine has been linked to

Gullian Barre Syndrome

Transverse myelitis

seizures

thrombocytopenia

diabetes


hib most often occurs between 12 to 18months old Breastfeeding reduces the risk of hib.

[Drummer's Wife]

If you are or were breastfeeding there really isn't much chance of hib.

I personally find comfort in knowing that I was never vaccinated against it (nor was any of my siblings, friends, etc) and somehow we all survived.

There just is too many possible side effects from the vaccine that scare me away from that one and hib honestly doesn't sound like a life or death situation.

Good luck figuring this out, hopefully other's can give you some more info and or links about Hib and the vaccine.

oh and this is from the hib page on 909shot:

manufacturer of HIB vaccine states in the product insert that the vaccine "has not been evaluated for its carcinogenic, mutagenic potential or impairment of fertility" and "it is also not known whether [the vaccine] can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity."

[Kelleybug]

As adults, none of us had the Hib vaccine. Breastfeeding reduces the risk, and if I remember correctly, it is in our normal flora in our nose anyway.
Children are more at risk for Hib infection after receiving the vaccine.

Here is a link to an old thread:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ad.php?t=81268


HTH!

[alegna]

You weren't vaxed against it. The Hib vax (and prevnar fwiw) have done nothing to reduce the total number of cases of meningitis. The cases are just simply different bugs now.

That one was easy to scratch off my list.

-Angela

[mom2tig99Nroo03]

Originally Posted by alegna

You weren't vaxed against it. The Hib vax (and prevnar fwiw) have done nothing to reduce the total number of cases of meningitis. The cases are just simply different bugs now.

That one was easy to scratch off my list.

-Angela

what she said.

[LongIsland]

You should begin here - the CDC Pink Book chapter on Hib: http://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/pink/hib.pdf

There's some really good Hib threads - does anyone have the To Hib or Not to Hib thread saved? Nicole, that was yours right? Maybe I can search through the user name and find it quicker - I can't find it using the search feature.

[jennnk]

I knew two children growing up who'd had meningitis, the kind that Hib now protects against. One of them was in a coma for nearly two months and has disfiguring scars all over his body, the other had to have his legs amputated mid-thigh & his arms at the elbow. Just as I wouldn't take risks with Polio (my husband's uncle is lucky to be alive, though he doesn't have use of his legs at all, and my ex-stepgrandpa is lucky to be alive, though he didn't have use of his left foot), I won't take risks with meningitis.

[LongIsland]

Originally Posted by jennnk

I knew two children growing up who'd had meningitis, the kind that Hib now protects against.

If you were a child, how do you know both cases of meningitis were from HI type-b?

Both sets of parents gave you the test results and both sets specifically mentioned it was type-b?

[jennnk]

Originally Posted by LongIsland

If you were a child, how do you know both cases were type-B?

Because though I have lost touch with Bill and Daniel, I was friends with Bill until he moved away in high school, and Daniel's mother was good friends with my mother. Bill talked about having had meningitis, how he hated his scars (he never wore shorts, even on the hottest days of summer, and rarely went without a long-sleeved shirt), how he hated that he lost months of his life to a coma, the weird dreams he had while in a coma, etc.

My best friend saw Daniel in the grocery store one day a few months ago, and I mentioned it to my mom, and asked her the question that I'd always wondered about: how did he lose his limbs? Was it a birth defect? An accident? "No," she said. "I thought you knew all about that. He had meningitis as a baby, the kind they have a vaccine for now." Apparently he got it when he was 2, which would have been a few years before the vaccine was introduced (he was born in 1981, Hib was introduced in 1985 & a newer version was introduced in 1987).

[wonderwahine]

i had Hib as an infant, i was also born 6 weeks prem. I know this btw because its in my medical records. They treated it fairly easily and i've suffered no long term effects (except maybe from the antibiotics)

[alegna]

Originally Posted by jennnk

Because though I have lost touch with Bill and Daniel, I was friends with Bill until he moved away in high school, and Daniel's mother was good friends with my mother. Bill talked about having had meningitis, how he hated his scars (he never wore shorts, even on the hottest days of summer, and rarely went without a long-sleeved shirt), how he hated that he lost months of his life to a coma, the weird dreams he had while in a coma, etc.

My best friend saw Daniel in the grocery store one day a few months ago, and I mentioned it to my mom, and asked her the question that I'd always wondered about: how did he lose his limbs? Was it a birth defect? An accident? "No," she said. "I thought you knew all about that. He had meningitis as a baby, the kind they have a vaccine for now." Apparently he got it when he was 2, which would have been a few years before the vaccine was introduced (he was born in 1981, Hib was introduced in 1985 & a newer version was introduced in 1987).

I'm sorry about your friends.

Out of curiosity, were they breastfed? Because serious Hib infections are almost unknown in babies/toddlers who are breastfed.

-Angela

[jennnk]

Originally Posted by alegna

I'm sorry about your friends.

Out of curiosity, were they breastfed? Because serious Hib infections are almost unknown in babies/toddlers who are breastfed.

-Angela

That's one thing I don't know. Like I said, I've since lost touch with them both, and I knew them long before breastfeeding was an important topic & part of my life (I know now which of my friends were breastfed and which weren't, and for how long & all that, just from conversations we've had since I had my son). I'd guess Daniel was, because his mom was really super-crunchy, and Bill probably wasn't because his mom was hardly ever around, but I can't be sure about either of them.

[wonderwahine]

Originally Posted by alegna

Out of curiosity, were they breastfed? Because serious Hib infections are almost unknown in babies/toddlers who are breastfed.

-Angela

thats an interesting point, because I myself was only bf for 6 weeks, I had to be hospitalised with severe reflux that had caused a big weight reduction (again, i know this from my medical records), and my mum also had some medical issues of her own. So i was given a special reflux formula.