Haemophilus Influenzae type b Vaccines: Current Trends and Future Outlook

More than 10 million children under the age of 5 die annually due to Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), and it can be concluded that infants and children are patient groups at particular risk. Among Hib, certain serotypes such as Nontypeable Haemophilus Influenzae (NTHi) are particularly difficult to treat as they are harder to detect and have high mutation rate as they spread from the nasopharyngeal. Despite the success of current Hib vaccines, vaccine candidates against NTHi continue to be a challenge as the current conjugate vaccines do not work effectively against the nontypeable strains. By examining the effectiveness of existing vaccines, this review article emphasizes the need for continued research to expand vaccine development for both typeable and nontypeable strains of Hib to mitigate the Hib-related diseases.