Abstract
The incidence and characteristics of invasiveHaemophilus influenzae disease were studied in 43 adult patients admitted to the acute care hospitals in El Vallés County (Barcelona, Spain) between January 1987 and June 1992. The annual incidence ofHaemophilus influenzae disease was 1.2 per 100,000 inhabitants. Pneumonia occurred in 24 patients, meningitis in five, intraabdominal infections in three, obstetric infections in two, epiglottitis in two and cellulitis in one. In six patients the source of infection was unknown. Ten (23 %) of the infections were hospital acquired. Underlying conditions were diagnosed in 30 (70 %) patients. NontypeableHaemophilus influenzae strains predominated in all adult age groups. Sixty-one percent of type b and 34 % of nontypeable strains were ampicillin resistant (p=0.08). Multiple antibiotic resistance was also high among type b (53 %) and nontypeable (18 %) strains. The mortality rate was significantly higher in patients with pneumonia, bactaeremia from an unidentified focus or shock at presentation.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berk SL, Holtsclaw SA, Wiener SL, Smith JK NontypeableHaemophilus influenzae in the elderly. Archives of Internal Medicine 1982, 142: 537–539.
Musher DM, Kubitschek KR, Crennan J, Baughn RE Pneumonia and acute febrile tracheobronchitis due toHaemophilus influenzae. Annals of Internal Medicine 1983, 99: 444–450.
Woodhead MA, Macfarlane JT Haemophilus influenzae pneumonia in previously fit adults. European Journal of Respiratory Diseases 1987, 70: 218–220.
Tillotson JR, Lerner AM Haemophilus influenzae bronchopneumonia in adults. Archives of Internal Medicine 1968, 121: 428–432.
Everett ED, Rham AE, Adaniya R, Stevens DL, McNitt TR Haemophilus influenzae pneumonia in adults. Journal of the American Medical Association 1977, 238: 319–321.
Stratton CW, Hawley HB, Horsman TA, Ty KK, Ackley A, Fernando NK, Weinstein MP Haemophilus influenzae pneumonia in adults. Report of five cases caused by ampicillin-resistant strains. American Review of Respiratory Disease 1980, 121: 595–598.
Schlamm HT, Yancovitz SR Haemophilus influenzae pneumonia in young adults with AIDS, ARC, or risk of AIDS. American Journal of Medicine 1989, 86: 11–14.
Quintilliani R, Hymans PJ The association of bacteremicHaemophilus influenzae pneumoniae in adults with typeable strains. American Journal of Medicine 1971, 50: 781–786.
Levin DC, Schwarz MI, Matthay RA, LaForce FM BacteremicHaemophilus influenzae pneumonia in adults. A report of 24 cases and review of the literature. American Journal of Medicine 1977, 62: 219–224.
Wallace RJ, Musher DM, Martin RR Haemophilus influenzae pneumonia in adults. American Journal of Medicine 1978, 64: 87–93.
Allen MB, Prowse K BacteraemicHaemophilus influenzae pneumonia. European Respiratory Journal 1988, 1: 929–931.
Trollfors B, Claesson B, Lagergard T, Sandberg T Incidence, predisposing factors and manifestations of invasiveHaemophilus influenzae infections in adults. European Journal of Clinical Microbiology 1984, 3: 180–184.
Trollfors B, Claesson BA, Strangert K, Taranger J Haemophilus influenzae meningitis in Sweden 1981–1983. Archives of Disease in Childhood 1987, 62: 1220–1223.
Crowe HM, Levitz RE InvasiveHaemophilus influenzae disease in adults. Archives of Internal Medicine 1987, 147: 241–244.
Granoff DM, Basden M Haemophilus influenzae infections in Fresno County, California: a prospective study of the effects of age, race, and contact with a case on incidence of disease. Journal of Infectious Diseases 1980, 141: 40–46.
Mayo-Smith MF, Hirsch PJ, Wodzinski SF, Schiffman FJ Acute epiglottitis in adults: an eight-year experience in the state of Rhode Island. New England Journal of Medicine 1986, 314: 1133–1139.
Peltola H, Rod TO, Jónsdóttir K, Böttiger M, Coolidge JAS Life-threateningHaemophilus influenzae infections in Scandinavia: a five-country analysis of the incidence and main clinical and bacteriologic characteristics. Reviews of Infectious Diseases 1990, 12: 708–715.
Takala AK, Eskola J, van Alphen L Spectrum of invasiveHaemophilus influenzae type b disease in adults. Archives of Internal Medicine 1990, 150: 2573–2576.
Kristensen K Haemophilus influenzae type b infections in adults. Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases 1989, 21: 651–653.
Kayser FH, Morenzoni G, Santanam P The second European collaborative study on the frequency of antimicrobial resistance inHaemophilus influenzae. European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases 1990, 9: 810–817.
Jorgensen JH Update on mechanisms and prevalence of antimicrobial resistance inHaemophilus influenzae. Clinical Infectious Diseases 1992, 14: 1119–1123.
National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards: Methods for dilution antimicrobial susceptibility tests for bacteria that grow aerobically. Approved standard M7-A2. NCCLS, Villanova, PA, 1990.
Farley MM, Stephens DS, Brachman PS Jr, Harvey RC, Smith JD, Wenger JD, andthe CDC Meningitis Surveillance Group InvasiveHaemophilus influenzae disease in adults. A prospective, population-based surveillance. Annals of Internal Medicine 1992, 116: 806–812.
Howard AJ, Dunkin KT, Musser JM, Palmer SR Epidemiology ofHaemophilus influenzae type b invasive disease in Wales. British Medical Journal 1991, 303: 441–445.
Wallace RJ, Musher DM, Septimus EJ, McGowan JE, Quinones FJ, Wiss K, Vance PH, Trier PA Haemophilus influenzae infections in adults: characterization of strains by serotypes, biotypes, and beta-lactamase production. Journal of Infectious Diseases 1981, 144: 101–106.
Long SS, Teter MJ, Gilligan PH Biotype ofHaemophilus influenzae: correlation with virulence and ampicillin resistance. Journal of Infectious Diseases 1983, 147: 800–806.
Spagnuolo PJ, Ellner JJ, Lerner PI, McHenry MC, Flatauer F, Rosenberg P, Rosenthal MS Haemophilus influenzae meningitis: the spectrum of disease in adults. Medicine 1982, 61: 74–85.
Parker SW, Spicella MA, Fuller CM Haemophilus endocarditis. Two patients with complications. Archives of Internal Medicine 1983, 143: 48–51.
Sa Perira M, Lipton SD, Abello G, Peckler DA Haemophilus influenzae sepsis and shock secondary to biliary infection in an adult. Archives of Internal Medicine 1981, 141: 795–796.
Pallarés R, Villabona C, Escobedo A, Marme C, Gudiol F Infecciones porHaemophilus influenzae en adultos: presentación de diez casos con bacteriemia. Medicina Clinica 1983, 80: 475–478.
Hirschmann JV, Everett ED Haemophilus influenzae infections in adults: report of nine cases and a review of the literature. Medicine 1979, 58: 80–94.
Fernández Viladrich P, Gudiol F, Rufí G, Ariza J, Pallarés R, Casanova A, Verdaguer R, Fernández Nogués F Meningitis bacteriana. Etiología y focos de origen de 482 episodios. Medicina Clinica 1986, 86: 615–620.
Durand ML, Calderwood SB, Weber DJ, Miller SI, Southwick FS, Caviness Jr VS, Swartz MN Acute bacterial meningitis in adults. A review of 493 episodes. New England Journal of Medicine 1993, 328: 21–28.
Casadevall A, Dobroszycki J, Small C, Pirofski L-A Haemophilus influenzae type b bacteremia in adults with AIDS and at risk for AIDS. American Journal of Medicine 1992, 92: 587–590.
Tudela P, Tor J, Libre JM, Muga R, Condom MJ, Gabarre E, Torrent A, Sabrià M Infección pulmonar porHaemophilus influenzae en pacientes infectados por el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana. Medicina Clinica 1992, 99: 324–326.
Miller EH, Caplan ES Nosocomial hemophilus pneumonia in patients with severe trauma. Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics 1984, 159: 153–156.
Simon HB, Southwick FS, Moellering RC, Sherman E Haemophilus influenzae in hospitalized adults: current perspectives. American Journal of Medicine 1980, 69: 219–226.
Sturm AW, Mostert R, Rouing PJE, van Klingeren B, van Alphen L Outbreak of multiresistant non-encapsulatedHaemophilus influenzae infections in a pulmonary rehabilitation centre. Lancet 1990, 335: 214–216.
Patterson JE, Madden GM, Krisiunas EP, Masecar B, Hierholzer WJ, Zervos MJ, Lyons RW A nosocomial outbreak of ampicillin-resistantHaemophilus influenzae type b in a geriatric unit. Journal of Infectious Diseases 1988, 157: 1002–1007.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Deulofeu, F., Nava, J.M., Bella, F. et al. Prospective epidemiological study of invasiveHaemophilus influenzae disease in adults. Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 13, 633–638 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01973988
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01973988