Acute otitis media in children: association with day care centers--antibacterial resistance, treatment, and prevention.
Children attending day care centers (DCCs) frequently carry antibacterial-resistant organisms in their nasopharynx, leading to acute otitis media (AOM) that may be refractory to antibacterial treatment. The development and spread of resistant organisms are facilitated in DCCs as a result of the following: (i) large numbers of children; (ii) frequent close person-to-person contact; and (iii) a wide use of antimicrobial medications. Intensive antimicrobial usage provides the selection pressure that favors the emergence of resistant organisms, while DCCs provide an ideal environment for transmission of these organisms. The American Academy of Pediatrics and American Academy of Family Physicians' guidelines recommend high-dose amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (rather than amoxicillin alone) as the first therapeutic choice in the treatment of AOM in children attending DCCs. The introduction of the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugated vaccine (PCV7) had a major role in decreasing the number of episodes of Streptococccus pneumoniae AOM secondary to the serotypes included in the vaccine. It also had a major role in reducing the nasopharyngeal carriage of vaccine-type S. pneumoniae (and in particular of antibacterial-resistant organisms), preventing, in this way, its spread to contacts in the community. However, the recent observation of increased rates of antibacterial-resistant non-vaccine serotype S. pneumoniae may erode the success of PCV7.
Greenberg
David
D
Pediatric Infectious Disease Unit, Soroka University Medical Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel. dudi@bgu.ac.il
Hoffman
Sigalit
S
Leibovitz
Eugene
E
Dagan
Ron
R
D000208:Acute Disease; D019980:Amoxicillin-Potassium Clavulanate Combination / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002656:Child Day Care Centers; D002675:Child, Preschool; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D000069443:Heptavalent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D022401:Meningococcal Vaccines / Q000276:immunology; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D010614:Pharynx / Q000382:microbiology; D011008:Pneumococcal Infections / Q000517:prevention & control; D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines / Q000276:immunology; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000276:immunology
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000069443:Heptavalent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine; D022401:Meningococcal Vaccines; D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines; D019980:Amoxicillin-Potassium Clavulanate Combination