Progress toward elimination of Haemophilus influenzae type b disease among infants and children--United States, 1993-1994.

Before effective vaccines were available, 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 infection has declined by at least 95% among infants and children (1,2). As part of the Childhood Immunization Initiative (CII), the Public Health Service has included Hib disease among children aged < 5 years as one of the vaccine-preventable diseases targeted for elimination in the United States by 1996 (3). This report summarizes provisional data about invasive Hi disease during 1993-1994 based on information from three surveillance systems: the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS), the National Bacterial Meningitis and Bacteremia Reporting System (NBMBRS), and a multistate laboratory-based surveillance system.