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Microbiology of otitis media in Costa Rican children, 1999 through 2001

Adriano Arguedas1, Ron Dagan, Carolina Soley

  • 1Instituto de Atención Pediátrica, San José, Costa Rica. aarguedas@iped.net

The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal
|December 23, 2003
PubMed
Abstract

Insights

Streptococcus pneumoniae, particularly serotype 19F, was the most common middle ear pathogen in Costa Rican children. Non-susceptible S. pneumoniae strains were more frequent in recurrent and treatment-failure otitis media cases.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric infectious diseases
  • Microbiology of otitis media
  • Antimicrobial resistance surveillance

Background:

  • Rising antimicrobial resistance in middle ear pathogens necessitates ongoing surveillance.
  • The introduction of new Streptococcus pneumoniae conjugate vaccines impacts pathogen prevalence.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the microbiology and antimicrobial susceptibility of middle ear pathogens in Costa Rican children.
  • To analyze pathogens from acute otitis media (AOM), recurrent otitis media (ROM), and failure of otitis media (FOM) cases.

Main Methods:

  • Middle ear fluid (MEF) samples collected from 276 Costa Rican children between 1999 and 2001.
  • Isolation and identification of bacterial pathogens.
  • Serotyping and pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) for Streptococcus pneumoniae strain analysis.

Main Results:

  • Streptococcus pneumoniae was the most frequently isolated pathogen (88 strains), followed by Haemophilus influenzae (41 strains).
  • Haemophilus influenzae was the predominant pathogen in failure of otitis media cases (P = 0.015).
  • Penicillin-nonsusceptible S. pneumoniae strains were significantly more common in recurrent and failure of otitis media patients (63-64%) compared to acute otitis media patients (42%, P = 0.05).

Conclusions:

  • Streptococcus pneumoniae, specifically serotype 19F, was the most common isolate.
  • Beta-lactamase-negative Haemophilus influenzae was prevalent in the failure of otitis media group.
  • Surveillance data are crucial for understanding evolving resistance patterns and guiding treatment strategies for otitis media.

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