title: Presence of interferon in the middle ear during secretory otitis media.
abstract: 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.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003139:Common Cold / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D006193:Haemophilus influenzae / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007372:Interferons / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008297:Male; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D007372:Interferons