Otis media, or inflammation of the middle ear, is second only to colds in affecting infants and young children. The condition ranges from acute to recurrent to chronic, often with the buildup of fluid, called effusion. Although it seems obvious to many audiologists as well as concerned parents, research conducted at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and published in the March 15, 2008 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases confirms the suspected close link between these two most common diseases.

"Understanding how viruses and ear infections are linked will definitely help us find new ways to prevent ear infections," said Tasnee Chronmaitree, MD, a pediatric disease specialist and the study's principal investigator. "To break the link you must first understand it."

Dr. Chronmaitree said parents could best protect their children by avoiding exposure to sick children and to have their children vaccinated against influenza. She also suggested children in day care might face reduced exposure to viruses if enrolled in smaller day care facilities with fewer children.

The Texas researchers followed 294 children ages 6 months to 3 years for up to 1 year each, and documented 1,300 cold episodes with a 61 percent rate of ear infections, some with asymptomatic fluid in the middle ear, which can cause hearing loss.

Dr. Chronmaitree and colleagues will continue to look at the role of viruses in ear infection, aiming to find a way to prevent the disease by studying children born with genetic variations who are prone to having ear infections and the interaction between genes and the environment.

Chewing Gum Reduces Ear Infections

Chewing gum may be a low-cost alternative to reducing ear infections in younger children, according to Dutch researchers. In a study published in the August 2007 issue of Ear and Hearing, researchers studied 1,756 children (aged 2 to 6 years attending child health centers) and diagnosed the presence of fluid through combined tympanometry and otoscopy.

Three factors were related to the prevalence of ear infections, called otitis media with effusion (OME), including age, season, and the premise that "children consuming daily or at least weekly chewing gum show significantly less chance for OME that a child who seldom consumes or consumes no chewing gum." In cases of regular use of chewing gum, the probability of OME is reduced by 40 percent.

According to the researchers, "Chewing obviously activates jaw movements, increases salivary flow and, by the way, the rate of swallowing and the rate of activations of peritubal muscles and tubal openings. Chewing also requires nasal respiration, thus preventing mouth breathing."

For children too young to chew gum, xylitol sugar in syrup form, which inhibits the growth and attachment of bacteria on nasopharyngeal cells, reduced the development of acute otitis media by 30 percent in two clinical trials conducted by Finnish researchers and reported in a 2000 issue of Vaccine. Xylitol syrup administered five times daily "appears to be an attractive alternative to prevent acute otitis media;" however, "a more practical frequency of doses should be found before its use can be widely recommended."

Chew on that!

This information originally appeared in Advance for Audiology.