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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Ibnosina Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences 2011; 03(05): 172-181
DOI: 10.4103/1947-489X.210890
Article

Risk factors and causative organisms of otitis media in children

Mabrouk Ghonaim
1   Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufiya University, Egypt; College of Applied Medical Sciences, Taif University, Saudi Arabia
,
Rawhia El-Edel
2   Department of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufiya University
,
Lamiaa Basiony
3   Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufiya University
,
Saad Al-Zahrani
4   Department of Family Medicine, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Taif University
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Background: Otitis media (OM) is an important health problem among children. It is the one of the leading causes of bacterial infections and antibiotic prescriptions. Patients and Methods: Three hundred patients with OM [147 with acute suppurative otitis media (ASOM), 80 with secretory otitis media (SOM) and 73 with chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM)] ranging in age from 3 months -12 years were investigated for possible risk factors of OM. Age- and sex- matched healthy children served as controls (n=300). Bacteriological examinations were completed for 178 patients (110 with ASOM and 68 with CSOM) with discharge from their ears. Results: Residence in rural areas, artificial feeding, low socioeconomic standard (SES), parental smoking, allergic rhinitis, adenoid hypertrophy, chronic tonsillitis, URTI, LRTI and introduction of foreign body (FB) into ears were major risk factors for the occurrence of OM (P<0.01). Unilateral infection was more significantly (P<0.001) found in ASOM and CSOM, while bilateral infection was more significantly found in SOM (P<0.01). Bacteriological examination showed that the prevailing bacteria in cases of ASOM were S. pneumoniae (24.8%), Staph. aureus (24.8%), P. aeruginosa (15.2%), H. influenzae (9.5%), and S. pyogenes (7.6%). On the other hand, the prevailing bacteria in CSOM were Proteus mirabilis (31%), P. aeruginosa (26.8%), Klebsiella species (14.1%), Staph. aureus (8.5%), and E. coli (5.6%). Conclusion: many risk factors have a role in the occurrence of OM in children and control of these factors may decrease the incidence of this disease. Many bacterial species (S. pneumoniae and Staph. aureus in ASOM and Proteus mirabilis, P. aeruginosa and Klebsiella in CSOM) are the causative organisms of this disease in our locality.

Key-words:

Risk factor - acute suppurative otitis media - chronic suppurative otitis media - secretory otitis media - causative bacteria of OM


Publication History

Received: 17 February 2011

Accepted: 06 August 2011

Article published online:
23 May 2022

© 2011. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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