RELEASE DATE: September 2, 1997 (Embargoed)
CONTACT:
Kenneth Satterfield
(703) 519-1563
(415) 978-3504 (9/5/97-9/10/97)
Email: [email protected]
PENICILLIN-RESISTANT STREPTOCOCCUS PNEUMONIAE (PRSP)
FOUND IN CHRONIC OTITIS MEDIA WITH EFFUSION
A new study offers first documentation that PRSP causes chronic middle ear infection. The judicious use of antibiotic therapy in treating this common childhood medical disorder is recommended.
SAN FRANCISCO -- A new prospective study provides the first documentation that penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (PRSP) is a pathogen in causing otitis media with effusion (infection of the middle ear) in young children. The presence of PRSP is significant for this common childhood ailment is regularly treated with antibiotics and in some cases, the insertion of tympanostomy tubes. This finding was made by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, MD, of Stanford University, and Joseph B. Robertson, Jr., MD, and Christina Laane, MS, both from Palo Alto, CA.
The results of the research were presented at the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery Foundation which is being held at the Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA on September 7-10, 1997. The meeting is the largest gathering for otolaryngologists, physicians who specialize in the medical and surgical treatment of the ears, nose, throat and related structures of the head and neck.
Methodology: Middle ear aspirates (discharges) were obtained from 50 consecutive children (mean age of 4.35 years) at the time of tympanostomy tube placement for chronic otitis media with effusion. Some 49 of the cultures were available for review.
Results: The examination of the discharges revealed that 23 of 49 contained growth with pathogenic bacteria. The most common pathogens were Haemophilus influenzae (6/23), Moraxell catarrhalis (6/23), and Streptococcus pneumoniae (5/23), two of the latter were identified as PRSP.
Treating otitis media with effusion with antibiotics has been a standard of care. Now, with PRSP as a possible pathogen for this disorder, physicians must ensure that the antibiotics they prescribe for ear drainage after placement of tympanostomy tubes are effective against PRSP.
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(Editor's Note: For additional information regarding this research and the AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting, contact Ken Satterfield at (703) 519-1563 or at the annual meeting newsroom, (415) 978-3504.
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