title: Clinical bacteriology of recurrent otitis media with effusion.
abstract: CONCLUSIONS
  Staphylococcus species were the most common bacterial isolates from patients with otitis media with effusion (OME). Unexpectedly, however, there was no difference in the identity or antibiotic resistance of bacteria isolated from patients with recurrent and non-recurrent OME.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Antibiotic resistance has increased due to indiscriminate overuse and misuse of antibiotics. Bacterial strains isolated from patients with recurrent OME seem to be more pathogenic and more resistant to antibiotics than strains isolated from patients with non-recurrent OME. The aim of this study was to evaluate the differences in identity and antibiotic sensitivity profiles of bacterial strains isolated from patients with recurrent and non-recurrent OME.
  
  
  METHODS
  We collected 900 middle ear fluid (MEF) samples from 654 pediatric patients who underwent ventilation tube insertion due to OME, then compared the identity and antibiotic sensitivity profiles of bacterial strains. Recurrent OME was defined as a requirement for ventilation tube reinsertion after tube extrusion.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no difference in the identity of bacterial isolates from patients with non-recurrent and recurrent OME regardless of the number of ventilation tubes inserted. Antibiotic sensitivity tests showed that the two groups differed in sensitivity to penicillin and erythromycin, but not to other antibiotics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine , Seoul , Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Su Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ji Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Ho Min
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Seung Geun
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Yeo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000502:physiology*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010034:Otitis Media with Effusion / Q000382:microbiology*; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014783:Viscosity