Insertion of the plug was possible in all except two ears, in which it failed because of a narrow tympanic orifice of the ET. In 11 ears of 10 patients, the plug was replaced by a larger one using the same approach to improve efficacy. Of the 42 ears in which the silicone plug was successfully inserted, 30 (71.4%) achieved relief from symptoms of PET without additional treatment. In > 60% of these cases, the symptoms of PET were well controlled with an aerated middle ear. The follow-up period ranged from 6 to 68 months (mean 38.9 months).

No abstract

Respiratory viruses were detected in 360 of 1092 NPS specimens, including 157 isolates of respiratory syncytial virus and 88 of influenza virus. Among 1092 MEF specimens, 102 were virus-positive, including 43 for respiratory syncytial virus and 29 for influenza virus. In 75 children, respiratory viruses were only detected in MEF. The viral detection rate was higher in children with fever at an early stage of their illness. The tympanic membrane changes associated with viral infection tended to be less severe, while changes were more severe in cases with bacterial infection, especially co-infection with bacteria and viruses.

Nasal and middle ear specimens collected from children with acute otitis media were subjected to viral isolation and bacteria culture. All virus-negative specimens underwent reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction to detect human metapneumovirus. Three of 126 middle ear specimens were positive by this assay.

To investigate how bacterial pathogens spread from child to child in a day care center, we monitored six children, two boys and four girls, born between August 1995 and November 1997, attending a day care center and analyzed nasopharyngeal samples from them using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). We obtained nasopharyngeal cultures from all of the affected children and almost all of the unaffected children between September 1998 and March 1999 after some children presented simultaneously with purulent rhinorrhea. Moreover, when a child was found to have acute otitis media, nasopharyngeal secretions from the child were independently cultured during treatment. During this period, 28 isolates of Moraxella catarrhalis, 13 ofStreptococcus pneumoniae, and 4 of Haemophilus influenzae were recovered. PFGE gave 8 patterns for M. catarrhalis, 10 for S. pneumoniae, and 1 for H. influenzae. PFGE patterns demonstrated spread of M. catarrhalis between children. However, each occurrence of clusters of infection with M. catarrhalis lasted 2 to 6 weeks, with a change in PFGE pattern between occurrences of clusters. The M. catarrhalis strain infecting each child also changed. Similarly, the S. pneumoniae strain in each child also changed. In contrast, infection with H. influenzaepersisted for about 3 months in an affected child.