Identification of Alloiococcus otitidis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Moraxella catarrhalis and Haemophilus influenzae in Children With Otitis Media With Effusion

Abstract

Background:Based on many studies, otitis media with effusion (OME) is one of the major causes of childhood hearing loss, social malformation and medical costs. The pathogenesis still remains unclear, though it is known that this complication is closely related to bacterial infections. Alloiococcus otitidis, Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Moraxella catarrhalis are the most common bacterial pathogens isolated from middle ear effusions (MEEs).Objectives:Due to the prevalence of OME in children, we decided to investigate bacterial agents that cause diseases such as A. otitidis, H. influenzae, S. pneumonia and M. catarrhalis in these subjects.Patients and Methods:Forty-five children between one and 15 years of age were selected for this study. Seventy specimens were collected from MEE by myringotomy and inoculated in PBS buffer. Conventional culture and PCR methods were used for identification of bacterial agents.Results:The bacterial cultures in 8.6% of samples were positive by conventional culture, with A. otitidis, M. catarrhalis and S. pneumoniae present in 1.4%, 2.9% and 4.3% of samples, respectively. No H. influenzae was isolated. By the PCR method, A. otitidis was the most frequently isolated bacterium, found in 25.7% of samples, followed by S. pneumoniae, M. catarrhalis and H. influenzae, which were identified in 20%, 12% and 20% of samples, respectively. Overall, 55 out of 70 samples were positive by both the PCR and culture method.Conclusions:It can be concluded that A. otitidis was the major causative agent of MEE in children with OME. Therefore clinicians should be aware that bacterial infection plays an important role in the progression of acute otitis media to OME in children of our region.

Comparison of adenoid size in lateral radiographic, pathologic, and endoscopic measurements

“…Untreated chronic serous OM is a serious threat to hearing ability and its incidence has increased dramatically in recent years ( 3 ). Otitis media with effusion (OME) is generally resulted from lymphoid tissue overgrowth in nasopharynx, chronic sinus infection, and allergies ( 4 ). Nevertheless, inadequate treatment of acute or subacute suppurative OM is an important factor in increasing prevalence of chronic serous OM, causing mild and asymptomatic infection, and results in thick mucoid effusion remains in the ear ( 1 ).…”

Antibiotic Resistance of Airborne Viable Bacteria and Size Distribution in Neonatal Intensive Care Units

“…Infections or diseases caused by these bacteria are rare and few clinical studies are recognized, some are related to trauma, deep soft tissue infections, and systemic infections [63,64]. The study also reported Alloiococcus otitidis , a pathogen associated with otitis media with effusion (OME), a common disease in childhood [65,66]. This microorganism is not considered an opportunistic pathogen or a cause of nosocomial diseases [67].…”

Reviewing the Pathogenic Potential of the Otitis-Associated Bacteria Alloiococcus otitidis and Turicella otitidis

“…Subsequent studies apparently failed to culture the organism, with rates of 0% reported until 2007 when Ashhurst-Smith et al (2007) successfully cultured the organism in 40% of MEF samples using a slightly lower temperature (35 • C) and higher CO 2 (7.5%). Only six studies since the 1989 paper have reported the prevalence of A. otitidis in MEF by culture; five cultured it from 1 to 40% of samples from children with OME or COME (Ashhurst-Smith et al, 2007;de Miguel Martínez and Ramos Macías, 2008;Khoramrooz et al, 2012;Garibpour et al, 2013;Sheikh et al, 2015) and one cultured it from 46% of qPCR-positive otorrhoea swabs from children with AOM and perforation (Marsh et al, 2012). Due to the varying culture conditions used to isolate the organism (see Table 1) and the potential for overgrowth of other organisms to mask the presence of small A. otitidis colonies, it is not clear whether the prevalence of A. otitidis by culture is comparable to that of the three major otopathogens.…”

“…In 1997, A. otitidis was incorporated as part of a multiplex PCR method with the three major otopathogens, NTHi, S. pneumonia, and M. catarrhalis (Hendolin et al, 1997). The use of PCR has substantially improved the detection rate of these four organisms in MEF specimens compared to microbiological culture, as demonstrated by studies where both methods were used (Hendolin et al, 1997(Hendolin et al, , 1999Leskinen et al, 2002;Pereira et al, 2004;Harimaya et al, 2006a;Kaur et al, 2010;Aydin et al, 2012;Khoramrooz et al, 2012;Sheikh et al, 2015;Sillanpää et al, 2016;Slinger et al, 2016). In children with OME or COME, A. otitidis has been reported by PCR in 18.5-60.5% of MEF specimens (13 studies), and in children with AOM or rAOM, 7-50% (5 studies).…”