Acute otitis media: bacteriology and bacterial resistance in 205 pediatric patients

Acute otitis media (AOM) is one of the most frequent diagnoses in children below the age of 2 years. Treatment is usually based on information included in the literature concerning bacteriology. The purpose of this work was to define the most frequent germs in the etiology of AOM within our community, in order to optimize therapeutics for this pathology. Cultures in middle ear secretions obtained through tympanocentesis were performed to this end, ensuring careful sample taking and processing. The results obtained are similar to those published in previous papers for which Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae proved to be the predominant germs. However, there are certain discrepancies concerning the incidence of Moraxella catarrhalis and this has a direct impact on the total percent of resistant strains, thus modifying therapeutic approaches for treatment of AOM. The antibiotic sensitivity profiles of the most frequent etiologic agents were studied in accordance with the principles established by the 'National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards' (NCCLS). (C) 2000 Elsevier Science ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.