Natural Acquired Immunity Against Haemophilus influenzae Type-B in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis Jahrom, Iran, 2022

End stage renal disease (ESRD) patients who undergo hemodialysis treatment suffer from immune system disorders. The immunodeficiency of these patients makes them prone to various infections.

To investigate the prevalence of naturally acquired immunity against Haemophilus influenzae type-B (Hib) and its association with the duration of dialysis treatment, gender, and age of patients in hemodialysis patients in Jahrom city, Iran.

This cross-sectional descriptive was conducted on ESRD patients undergoing hemodialysis treatment, referred to Jahrom Hemodialysis Center, June - August,2022. In order to determine the presence or absence of an immunity to Hib in the patients, the qualitative level of anti-Hib Polyribosyl-ribitol-phosphate (anti-Hib PRP) antibodies in the serum of the patients were determined using the ELISA test using a specialized commercial kit. SPSS-21 was used to analyze the data. The chi-square test, univariate and multivariable logistic regression were used for data analysis.

The prevalence of naturally acquired immunity to Hib in patients was 26.13% (10.22% short-term immunity, 15.91% longterm immunity). A significant relationship was found between the prevalence of long-term immunity to Hib in patients and the number of dialysis sessions three times and more per week (P < 0.001).

Considering that hemodialysis patients in Iran are not vaccinated against Hib, 26.13% prevalence of natural immunity against Hib indicates the same prevalence of Hib infection history in hemodialysis patients. A case-control study with a large sample size on hemodialysis patients is recommended to accurately determine the prevalence of Hib and to decide whether to implement a Hib vaccination program in these patients.