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Otitis media among children in day care: epidemiology and pathogenesis

F W Henderson, G S Giebink

    Reviews of Infectious Diseases
    |July 1, 1986
    PubMed

    Insights

    Children in group day care centers may have a two to four times higher risk of middle-ear effusion compared to those in home-based care. More research is needed to understand this link and the role of infections.

    Area of Science:

    • Pediatrics
    • Epidemiology
    • Infectious Diseases

    Background:

    • Middle-ear effusions are common complications of childhood respiratory illnesses.
    • The impact of day care attendance on otitis media prevalence requires further investigation.
    • Existing studies suggest a potential increased risk associated with group day care.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To assess the impact of different child care settings on the incidence and prevalence of middle-ear effusions.
    • To quantify the risk of otitis media related to day care attendance.
    • To explore the role of viral and bacterial infections in the pathogenesis of otitis media with effusion in relation to child care environments.

    Main Methods:

    • Review of existing epidemiological studies on otitis media and day care attendance.
    • Analysis of Danish research indicating higher prevalence in group day care.
    • Identification of knowledge gaps regarding differential risk and infection epidemiology.

    Main Results:

    • Point prevalence of middle-ear effusion may be 2-4 times higher in children under four attending group day care versus home care.
    • Difficulty in precisely assessing the magnitude of otitis media risk solely due to day care attendance from current studies.
    • Emerging understanding of viral infections and virus-bacteria interactions in acute middle-ear effusion pathogenesis.

    Conclusions:

    • Group day care attendance is associated with a potentially higher prevalence of middle-ear effusion in young children.
    • Further research is required to quantify differential disease risks across various care settings.
    • Studies need to integrate illness risk with the epidemiology of viral and bacterial upper respiratory tract infections in different environments.

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