Clinical bacteriology and immunology in acute otitis media in children

Acute otitis media (AOM) is the most common disease seen in childhood. Streptococcus pneumoniae, non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi), and Moraxella catarrhalis are the most frequent pathogens of all AOM episodes. The high prevalence of drug-resistant pathogens such as penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae (PRSP) and betalactamase producing or nonproducing ampicillin-resistant H. influenzae (BLPAR or BLNAR) is causing serious clinical problems worldwide. PRSP and BLNAR have become important risk factors for intractable clinical outcome of AOM. PRSP causes a three times higher incidence of intractable AOM than susceptible strains. BLNAR strains show penicillin-binding protein gene mutation and are not only resistant to ampicillin, but also have reduced susceptibility to cephalosporin. The resistant H. influenzae pathogen has shown clonal dissemination in Japan in ways different from those of penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae. Protection against AOM due to these pathogens may depend on pathogen-specific antibodies. Pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides (PCPs) are type specific and poorly immunogenic in children younger than 2 years old. Approximately 50% of otitis-prone children showed subnormal levels of anti-PCP IgG2 antibody. In our immunological study in children with otitis media, however, otitis-prone children were not unusually vulnerable to infections except those resulting in otitis media. This fact seems to refute the presence of a broad immunological deficit in these children. Some pathogen-specific antibodies may be directed against protein immunogens such as pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA) of S. pneumoniae, P6 of NTHi, and UspA of M. catarrhalis. The levels of antibody to P6 of NTHi in healthy children were significantly higher than those in the otitis-prone children after the age of 18 months. In general, individual antibody levels in otitis-prone individuals did not have an age-dependent rise. The failure to develop a good antibody response to common antigens such as PspA and P6 may enable the pathogen to cause persistent or recurrent disease.