Septic arthritis due to Haemophilus influenzae serotype a in the post-vaccination era in Brazil

Haemophilus influenzae (Hi) is an important bacterial pathogen in children, causing a variety of respiratory infections and life-threatening diseases such as meningitis, epiglottitis, pneumonia and septicaemia. Occasionally, Hi can also cause sporadic infections such as septic arthritis (SA). Before the advent of Hi type b (Hib) vaccination, paediatric invasive Hi disease was caused mostly by Hib isolates. Hib SA in children had been responsible for a significant proportion of cases in Europe and the United States (Bowerman et al., 1997; Peltola et al., 1998; Shoaib et al., 2007).