A low level of serum antibody to antigens expressed by Streptococcus pneumoniae has been proposed to explain the susceptibility of children to recurrent episodes of acute otitis media (hereafter, "otitis-prone children"). By use of enzyme-linked immunospot assays, the percentages of memory B cells to pneumococcal protein antigens PhtD, LytB, PcpA, PhtE, and Ply were compared between otitis-pron...

BACKGROUND Otitis media is one of the most common infections in young children. Although exposure to environmental tobacco smoke is a known risk factor associated with otitis media, little information is available regarding the potential association with air pollution. OBJECTIVE We set out to study the relationship between exposure to traffic-related air pollution and otitis media in two birt...

BACKGROUND No published studies on the prevalence of paediatric otitis media at primary healthcare clinics (PHCs) in South Africa (SA) are available. OBJECTIVE To examine the point prevalence of otitis media in a paediatric population in a PHC in Johannesburg, SA, using otomicroscopy. METHODS A sample of 140 children aged 2 - 16 years (mean 6.4; 44.1% females) were recruited from patients a...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to assess pacifier use as a risk factor for otitis media during the first year of life. METHODS A volunteer cohort of 1,375 infants was recruited from eight hospital postpartum units in Iowa. Parents were asked to provide detailed information on their child's health at 6 weeks, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of age. Questions were posed concerning occurrence of sp...

Otitis media is a major cause of morbidity in 80% of all children less than 3 years of age and often goes undiagnosed in the general population. There is evidence to suggest that the incidence of otitis media is increasing. The major cause of otitis media is infection of the middle ear with microbes from the nasopharynx. The anatomical orientation of the eustachian tube, in association with a n...

BACKGROUND Otitis media is one of the most common childhood diseases worldwide, but because of lack of doctors and health personnel in developing countries it is often misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all. This may lead to serious, and life-threatening complications. There is, thus a need for an automated computer based image-analyzing system that could assist in making accurate otitis media di...

Acute otitis media is usually considered a simple bacterial infection that is treated with antibiotics. However, ample evidence derived from studies ranging from animal experiments to extensive clinical trials supports a crucial role for respiratory viruses in the etiology and pathogenesis of acute otitis media. Viral infection of the upper respiratory mucosa initiates the whole cascade of even...

v Acute otitis media: Children with acute otitis media have signs and symptoms of infection, such as ear pain and fever. Acute otitis media is very common in children; more than 5 million cases occur each year in the United States. v Otitis media with effusion: Children with otitis media with effusion have extra fluid in the middle ear, so symptoms may include feeling like the ear is plugged or...

BACKGROUND A systematic quantitative review was conducted of evidence relating parental smoking to acute otitis media, recurrent otitis media, middle ear effusion, and adenoidectomy and/or tonsillectomy. METHODS Forty five relevant publications were identified after consideration of 692 articles selected by electronic search of the Embase and Medline databases using keywords relevant to passi...