Hib Infection On the Rise

Haemophilis influenzae type B, or Hib infection, a disease that has been nearly wiped out by routine vaccination, is making a comeback. USA Today reports that "The cases, along with scattered measles outbreaks last year that infected about 140 children and adults, most of them not immunized, have health officials concerned that a growing trend among some parents to delay or forgo infant vaccinations could create a large enough population of unprotected children to allow outbreaks of diseases that haven't been seen by most doctors for a generation." Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, says "Some parents wonder if these diseases are a risk. With something like Hib, many people have never heard of it because we haven't seen it. But it was a killer disease, and we want parents to know it is very dangerous."