A vaccine -- like any medicine -- is capable of causing serious problems, such as severe allergic
reactions. The risk of
Hib vaccine causing serious harm or death is extremely small. Most people who get Hib vaccine do not have any problems with it.
Mild problems of Hib vaccine include:
- Redness, warmth, or swelling where the shot was given (up to one fourth of children)
- Fever over 101 degrees Fahrenheit (up to 1 out of 20 children).
If these problems occur, they usually start within a day of vaccination. They may last two to three days.
Serious problems with Hib vaccine are rare. Signs of a possible problem are any unusual condition, such as a serious allergic reaction, high fever, or behavior changes.
Signs of a serious allergic reaction can include:
- Difficulty breathing
- Hoarseness or wheezing
- Hives
- Paleness
- Weakness
- A fast heart beat
- Dizziness within a few minutes to a few hours after the shot.
If you or your child experience anything unusual or you are unsure, call a doctor, or get the person to a doctor right away.
Tell your doctor what happened, the date and time it happened, and when the vaccination was given.
What If We Stopped Using the Hib Vaccine?
Before Hib vaccine became available, Hib was the most common cause of
bacterial meningitis in U.S. infants and children. Before the vaccine was developed, there were approximately 20,000 invasive Hib cases annually. Approximately two thirds of the 20,000 cases were the result of
meningitis, and one third was other life-threatening invasive Hib diseases such as bacteria in the blood, pneumonia, or inflammation of the epiglottis. About 1 out of every 200 U.S. children under five years of age got an invasive Hib disease. Hib meningitis once killed 600 children each year and left many survivors with deafness,
seizures, or mental retardation.
Since the introduction of conjugate Hib vaccine in December 1987, the incidence of Hib has declined by 98 percent. From 1994 to 1998, fewer than 10 fatal cases of invasive Hib disease were reported each year.
This preventable disease was a common, devastating illness as recently as 1990; now, most pediatricians just finishing training have never seen a case. If we were to stop immunization, we would likely soon return to the pre-vaccine numbers of invasive Hib disease cases and deaths.
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