title: Changing patterns of bacterial strains in adults and children with otitis media in korean tertiary care centers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Otitis media (OM) is an infectious disease that affects all age brackets. Aural discharge is a typical symptom, occurring in all subtypes of OM. We have compared the identity and antibiotic sensitivity of bacteria isolated from aural discharges of adults and children with various types of OM, including acute OM (AOM), OM with effusion (OME), chronic OM (COM), and cholesteatomatous OM (CSOM).
  
  
  METHODS
  The study involved 2,833 patients who visited five tertiary hospitals between January 2001 and December 2010 and were diagnosed with AOM, OME, COM, or CSOM. The patients were divided into a pediatric group and an adult group, and the distribution of cultured bacteria and their antibiotic sensitivity were compared in the two groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Bacterial detection rates were higher in adults than in children with OME and COM (P=0.000 each). The majority of the bacteria cultured from patients with AOM and OME bacteria were methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Bacteria cultured from children were more susceptible to antibiotics (P=0.002) and had higher antibiotic sensitivity (P=0.001) than were bacteria cultured from adults. The majority of bacteria culture from patients with COM and CSOM were MSSA and pathogenic Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The frequency of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was significantly higher in adults than in children, and more strains of bacteria isolated from adults were sensitive to the antibiotics septrin, vancomycin, and teicoplanin.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Bacteria cultured from children were more susceptible to antibiotics and had higher antibiotic sensitivity than did bacteria cultured from adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jun Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Samsung Changwon Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Changwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Myung Gu
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Hallym University College of Medicine, Hwaseong, Korea.
authors.forename: Seok Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Se Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Na
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Yong
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Byun
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Moon Suh
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Geun
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Yeo
keywords: Adult; Bacteriology; Children; Otitis media