Haemophilus influenzae - causes and symptoms of Haemophilus influenzae

There are 6 types of encapsulated strains of Haemophilus influenzae: a; b; c; d; e; f.

Type b is the most virulent. It is the most common cause of invasive diseases in children under 5 or 6 years of age.

Haemophilus influenzae is one of the most dangerous, as it affects children and adults with weakened immunity.

Causes

The source of infection is a sick person. The main route of transmission is airborne. It can also be transmitted by contact (using infected toys, linen, household items). The incidence rate increases sharply in spring and late winter.

The disease most often affects children aged six months to 5 years, premature babies with signs of primary or secondary immunodeficiency, elderly people and patients with various types of immunodeficiency.

Symptoms

The incubation period has no clearly defined time boundaries and depends entirely on the degree of the developing pathological process. In some episodes, inflammatory changes in the respiratory organs are noted, and sometimes other concomitant pathologies. The hemophilic type can be accompanied by acute purulent meningitis, acute pneumonia, blood poisoning, inflammation in the subcutaneous tissue, epiglottitis, arthritis and complicated purulent processes.

Each case is characterized by individual manifestations. Meningitis is characterized by symptoms of acute respiratory infections, which quickly develop into clinical symptoms. The disease develops rapidly, other clinical forms appear. Focal or lobar pneumonia is accompanied by inflammatory processes in the middle ear or purulent pleurisy. The disease manifests itself on the face, namely on the cheeks and eye sockets. The skin becomes cyanotic, hyperemic. General symptoms are mild.

In a child over one year old, cellulitis may be localized on the legs or arms.

Inflammation in the epiglottis is often accompanied by severe hyperthermia, poisoning of the body and rapid death from suffocation.

Diagnostics

An infectious disease specialist or pediatrician diagnoses the current pathology based on:

• analysis of the patient's complaints;
• history of the disease;
• general examination: hyperemia in the throat, palatine arches, signs of inflammation in the epiglottis, subcutaneous fat are detected;
• bacteriological culture of pus, sputum, cerebrospinal fluid, materials taken from the mucous membranes, on special nutrient environments;
• serological diagnostics - antibodies to the pathogen are determined in the blood;
• detection of influenza DNA in sputum, blood plasma using the polymerase chain reaction method;
• consultation with an otolaryngologist.

Treatment

If there are no etiotropic therapeutic measures, this becomes the cause of high mortality of patients with this diagnosis. Therapy requires immediate medical intervention and constant monitoring by medical personnel. Until the 1970s, ampicillin treatment was most effective. But bacterial mutations led to the pathogen acquiring extreme resistance and becoming insensitive to this drug.

Therapy is recommended to be carried out with the following drugs: cephalosporin, levomycetin and ampicillin. The fact of constant modifications and adaptability of the infection to antimicrobial drugs has led to a decrease in the effectiveness of their use. But there are also the latest developments in this area, providing the affected with new drugs that can affect current viral strains.

Prevention

The modern vaccination calendar provides for vaccination against hemophilic infection. This vaccination is given to children from 3 months to five years. Children over five years of age do not need such a procedure, since their immune system is capable of fighting the pathogen on its own.

Vaccination is also carried out according to individual indications for people with frequent acute respiratory viral infections, damage to the central nervous system, indications for removal of the spleen (in this case, immunization is carried out before surgery).

Among other preventive measures, it is worth mentioning the identification of carriers in the elderly and prescribing them adequate treatment, strengthening the immune system (balanced nutrition, taking multivitamins), etc.