Developments in Brief : Disease Not Easily Spread, Study Shows

A disease that is a leading cause of meningitis in infants may not be as contagious as previously believed, a new study says.

In two separate studies that directly contradict previous reports, researchers said they found that children who come in contact with an infected child are not likely to develop the disease--even in families or day-care centers.

The researchers said in the current New England Journal of Medicine that the disease, Hemophilus Influenzae Type B, does not seem to be passed as quickly from child to child as doctors widely think.

Hemophilus Influenzae Type B can cause several diseases but the most serious is meningitis, an inflammation of the sheath that surrounds the brain. About 70% of the 12,000 cases in the United States each year are seen in children younger than 18 months. The disease causes permanent brain damage in one-third of the cases and death in up to 10% of the victims.

Previous studies have warned that the infant brothers or sisters of an infected child are up to 400 times more likely to be hit by the illness, and children in day-care centers have an equally high risk of getting the disease if exposed.

But in a two-year study of 185 children who developed the disease while attending day-care centers in Minnesota, a team led by Michael Osterholm of the state’s health department found that none of the exposed children developed the disease.

Although the U.S. Public Health Service suggests that doctors give a drug called rifampin to children younger than 2 years who have been exposed, the Osterholm team said their study shows that recommendation may not be wise.

The second study, by researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Dallas, also found that the disease did not readily spread. Only one toddler out of the 587 who had contact with an infected child subsequently developed the disease. None of those children received rifampin.

A vaccine against the disease is available but is ineffective in children younger than 18 months.