A 12-month study of the incidence of acute otitis media in children under three years of age in an urban practice of 10 000 patients showed that acute otitis media accounted for one in 10 of all episodes of illness presented. In contrast to findings in Scandinavia and the USA the incidence of acute otitis media in the first year of life (11.5%) was lower than in the second year (28.6%). The stu...

CONTEXT Adenoidectomy and adenotonsillectomy are commonly performed in US children to reduce the occurrence of persistent or recurrent otitis media, but evidence supporting the efficacy of the operations is limited. OBJECTIVES To test the efficacy of adenoidectomy and adenotonsillectomy in children with persistent or recurrent otitis media who had not previously undergone tube placement and t...

The pneumococcus is a major otitis media (OM) pathogen, but data are conflicting regarding whether otitis-prone children have impaired humoral immunity to pneumococcal antigens. We and others have shown that otitis-prone and healthy children have similar antibody titers to pneumococcal proteins and polysaccharides (vaccine and nonvaccine types); however, the quality of antibodies from otitis-pr...

Acute otitis media in children is very common with an estimated incidence of 85 % within the first year of life. Children usually present with fever, ear fullness, ear discharge and conductive hearing loss. The most common etiologies of acute otitis media in children are Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Moraxella catarrhalis. The diagnosis is based on clinical examination a...

Acute otitis media is diagnosed frequently in childhood with peak incidence between 6 and 15 months of age. It is the most common reason for physician visits and antibiotic prescriptions in children, with an excess of $100 spent per episode. In this article we discuss current concepts of complementary and alternative medicine as they apply to otitis media. A thorough literature review shows tha...

Medical regimens for the successful treatment of infectious otitis may vary widely depending on the degree of pathologic changes of the external ear canals, the status of the tympanic membranes, and the specific microorganisms involved. Chronic otitis media is especially problematic, because impaction of the bullae can be difficult to resolve and these cases often involve antibiotic-resistant b...

The purpose of this study was to obtain a preliminary estimate of how otitis media with effusion affects the hearing sensitivity of infants. An observer-based method was used to estimate detection thresholds for IOOOor 4000-Hz tones for infants diagnosed with otitis media by a physician and for control infants. These preliminary results suggest that otitis media with effusion produces a mild to...

For questions concerning ON-LINE CEs, call (866) 261-3558. Childhood ear infections consist of acute otitis media (AOM), otitis media with effusion (OME), and otitis externa (OE). AOM and OME have been defined in a clinical practice guideline developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and American Academy of Family Physicians. In order to have a diagnosis of AOM, the patient must hav...

Otitis media is an infection or inflammation of the middle ear. This inflammation often begins when infections that cause sore throats, colds, or other respiratory or breathing problems spread to the middle ear. These can be viral or bacterial infections. Seventy-five percent of children experience at least one episode of otitis media by their third birthday. Almost half of these children will ...