Presence of interferon in the middle ear during secretory otitis media

In connection with grommet insertion due to secretory otitis media (SOM), the middle ear effusion was collected and studied for content of interferon and bacteria. The study material comprised a total of 47 ears in 29 children, but from 10 ears the effusion was too viscous for interferon titration, so only 24 children were ultimately included. Interferon was present in 5 ears of 3 children. A child having a low titre in both ears had recently been treated with penicillin. From the other 2 children, pneumococci were cultured. Twelve of the included children had a common cold, but of them only 2 had interferon in the middle ear. The production of interferon was presumably induced by the pneumococci, not by virus.