Morbidity of very young infants with and without acute otitis media.
Perinatal and other morbidity of 96 consecutive infants with acute otitis media (AOM) before the age of 3 months is compared with that of 96 birthday- and sex-matched controls without AOM. Perinatal problems were found in 57 AOM infants and in 38 controls, prematurity and asphyxia being significantly (p less than 0.05) more common in the study group than in the controls. At the time of AOM, 51 infants had concurrent illnesses ('colds' excluded) or anomalies, while only 19 controls (p less than 0.001) showed any respective morbidity during their 3 months of life. While AOM infants frequently presented with other, especially respiratory, infections, the controls hardly ever did so. Symptomatology during otitis was varying, and frequently suggestive of respiratory problems other than AOM. Subsequent otitis morbidity of AOM infants was heavy, but other disease history was similar to that of the controls. The study stresses the importance of examining the ears in young infants presenting with any illness, and especially of a respiratory nature.
Department of Clinical Sciences, University of Tampere, Finland.
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Karma
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Perälä
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Kuusela
D000208:Acute Disease; D001238:Asphyxia Neonatorum / Q000453:epidemiology; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors