When children less than 24 months of age are infected with Hib, why does the infection not confer immunity but the vaccine does?
When a young child is infected with Hib disease, the child is exposed to the polysaccharide molecules and a young child’s immune system is not mature enough to respond. A child who is vaccinated is exposed to polysaccharide molecules that have been conjugated to a protein. Their immune system responds much better to a conjugated polysaccharide than to a polysaccharide alone. This is a case where the immune response to the vaccine is better than the immune response to the “natural infection.
Related Questions
- If a child received Hepatitis B vaccine at birth and Hib vaccine at 2 and 4 months of age, can you give Comvax at 6 months without having to give another Comvax again?
- When children less than 24 months of age are infected with Hib, why does the infection not confer immunity but the vaccine does?
- When is the HiB vaccine contraindicated?
