title: Epidemiology of Moraxella catarrhalis in children during the first 2 years of life: relationship to otitis media.
abstract: Nasopharyngeal colonization with Moraxella catarrhalis was evaluated in a large cohort of infants followed prospectively from birth to 2 years of age; 120 children were examined at 13 routine visits. Of these, 66% became colonized with M. catarrhalis by 1 year and 77.5% by 2 years. Nasopharyngeal colonization with M. catarrhalis increased from 27.0% during healthy visits to 62.7% during visits due to otitis media (P < .001). Otitis-prone children were colonized at 44.4% of all visits compared with 16.7% for children who did not have otitis media (P < .001). DNA from 112 strains of M. catarrhalis from 34 children were evaluated; 106 were successfully digested with restriction enzymes and demonstrated a great degree of heterogeneity. Children tended to acquire and eliminate a number of different strains. Intrafamilial spread of the same strain of M. catarrhalis was frequent. These data suggest that nasopharyngeal colonization with M. catarrhalis is common throughout infancy. A high rate of colonization is associated with an increased risk of otitis media.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, State University of New York, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Children's Hospital, Buffalo.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Faden
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Harabuchi
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Hong
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D003710:Demography; D015252:Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D001936:Moraxella catarrhalis; D009305:Nasopharynx / Q000382:microbiology; D016870:Neisseriaceae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D015252:Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific; C024403:GGCC-specific type II deoxyribonucleases