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A human hyperimmune globulin termed bacterial polysaccharide immune globulin (BPIG) has been prepared from plasma donors immunized with Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), pneumococcal, and meningococcal vaccines. At a dose of 0.5 ml/kg, BPIG increased levels of antibody to Hib by greater than 0.15 microgram/ml within 4-6 h and by 2-4 micrograms/ml at 72 h. Thereafter, antibody declined, with a mean half-life of 27 days. BPIG treatment of Apache infants did not impair their active antibody responses to concurrently administered diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis or Hib oligosaccharide-diptheria CRM197 conjugate vaccines. In high-risk Apache infants, BPIG given at 2, 6, and 10 months of age provided significant protection from invasive Hib infection during infancy. Thus, BPIG may have utility in the prevention of Hib infections in high-risk patients who cannot be immunized adequately with Hib conjugate vaccines.

Background and Methods. Because Native American children are at much higher risk for invasive Haemophilus influenzae type b infection than white children, we compared the antibody responses to H. influenzae type b polysaccharide vaccine in healthy Apache and white children. Results. The concentrations of H. influenzae type b antibody after immunization with polysaccharide vaccine were approximately 10-fold lower in 24-month-old Apache children than in whites of a similar age (P