Respiratory viruses in the healthy middle ear and middle ear with otitis media with effusion

Abstract

To investigate the presence of respiratory viruses in the middle ear cavity of the individuals with a healthy middle ear and the children with otitis media with effusion (OME). A total of 72 middle ear samples were collected from 25 children with OME (Group 1) and 47 individuals with no middle ear disease (Group 2). Multiplex realtime polymerase chain reaction was used to investigate the presence of 20 different respiratory viruses. Virus results were compared with bacteriomes of the same populations. At least one respiratory virus was detected in 56% of the patients in Group 1 and 12.8% of the individuals in Group 2. The viral co-infection rate for Group 1 and 2 was 8% and 2.1%, respectively. In Group 1, adenovirus was the most frequently detected virus with a rate of 24%, either alone (16%) or concurrent with other viruses (8%), followed by influenza B (12%), rhinovirus, and bocavirus (8%) each. Parainfluenza 4, coronavirus OC43, and RSV A/B were detected in 4% of the sample each. In Group 2, rhinovirus was detected in two samples (4.3%) followed by adenovirus, coronavirus OC43, coronavirus E299, and coronavirus NL63 with a rate of 2.1% each. The detection rate of respiratory viruses was significantly higher in children aged 6 to 11 years. There was no positive association between virus and bacteria found in the middle ear cavity. The current study has provided comprehensive data indicating the presence of diverse respiratory viruses in the healthy middle ear cavity. Our results also suggest that respiratory viruses might have a contribution to OME pathogenesis.

Viral infection in chronic otitis media with effusion in children

“…Genomes of respiratory viruses were detected in MEE’s of 65% of the children. Similar studies found lower detection rates (56% and 52%, respectively) ( 6 , 8 ). The amount of amplified genome may have been higher in our study, as other studies applied middle ear washes which may have diluted their specimens.…”

“…Several respiratory viruses have been established as sources of ascending infection from the adenoids and are considered major etiological factors of COME in children (3,4). However, those studies report variable viral detection rates in MEE of children and lack evidence of simultaneous viral occupation of the nasopharynx (5)(6)(7)(8). Furthermore a clear separation of cases with COME from those with AOM or rAOM is missing in most reports, although onset, symptoms, clinical, microbiologic and histopathologic findings vary greatly between the diseases.…”

Mycobiome in the Middle Ear Cavity with and Without Otitis Media with Effusion

“…Previously we reported, for this same set of samples, that both healthy middle ears and ear with OME have diverse bacteriomes and viromes ( 12 , 14 , 15 ). Here, we hypothesize that the middle ear hosts a mycobiome and the composition of the mycobiome differ according to the health condition of the middle ear.…”

Echinacea purpurea: An overview of mechanism, efficacy, and safety in pediatric upper respiratory infections and otitis media

“…URIs, including nasopharyngitis, pharyngitis, and tonsillitis, and complications such as otitis media (OM), account for 87.5% of all respiratory tract infections (Nguyen-Van-Tam et al, 2022). OM, a common complication of URIs, often manifests following these infections, illustrating a direct clinical linkage (Durmaz et al, 2021;Principi & Esposito, 2020). OM is predominantly caused by bacteria like S. pneumoniae, H. influenzae, and M. catarrhalis, with viruses also playing a role (Folino et al, 2022;Zahid et al, 2024).…”