Progress toward elimination of Haemophilus influenzae type b disease among infants and children--United States, 1987-1993.

Haemophilus influenzae (Hi) causes disease among persons in all age groups, and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) was the most common cause of bacterial meningitis among children in the United States. Since the introduction of Hib conjugate vaccines in 1988, the incidence of invasive Hib infections in the United States has declined among infants and children. Hib disease among children aged < 5 years is now included in the list of vaccine-preventable diseases targeted for elimination in the United States by 1996. Because Hi disease rates are generally higher for blacks than for whites, incidence rates are race-adjusted; race most likely reflects differing distributions of socioeconomic risk factors for Hi disease (e.g., household crowding) that may account for the variance in incidence rates. This report summarizes race-adjusted provisional data about trends in invasive Hi disease from two separate surveillance systems and emphasizes the need for early identification, investigation, and reporting of Hi cases.