Familial and microbiological contribution to the otitis-prone condition.
OBJECTIVE
Our group has an ongoing clinical research project investigating the immunology of the otitis-prone (OP) phenotype. In light of evidence that this condition arises from underlying immunological defects, we examined our sample population of stringently defined OP (sOP) children suffering 3 episodes of acute otitis media within 6 months or 4 within a year for a familial association with the sOP phenotype.


METHODS
We analyzed the frequency of sOP within and between families and the nasopharyngeal (NP) otopathogen colonization patterns within and between families.


RESULTS
The presence of sOP siblings significantly predicted that additional children in the same family would likewise become sOP, with an odds ratio of 3.7 (95% CI 0.77-15.2, 95% lower bound 0.95). We further present evidence for an environmental contribution to this effect by means of prolonged exposure to otopathogens within family units.


CONCLUSIONS
sOP children have a significant familial association. The tendency of siblings to share similar patterns of microbial NP colonization contributes to this association. Further research is necessary to determine whether and to what extent genetics are involved.
Research Institute, Rochester Regional Health Systems, 1425 Portland Avenue, Rochester, NY 14621, United States.
Matthew C
MC
Morris
Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, University of Rochester, 265 Crittenden Boulevard, Rochester, NY 14642, United States.
Anthony L
AL
Almudevar
Research Institute, Rochester Regional Health Systems, 1425 Portland Avenue, Rochester, NY 14621, United States; Legacy Pediatrics, 1815 S Clinton Avenue No. 360, Rochester, NY 14618, United States.
Janet R
JR
Casey
Research Institute, Rochester Regional Health Systems, 1425 Portland Avenue, Rochester, NY 14621, United States; Legacy Pediatrics, 1815 S Clinton Avenue No. 360, Rochester, NY 14618, United States. Electronic address: michael.pichichero@rochesterregional.org.
Michael E
ME
Pichichero
D000208:Acute Disease; D002648:Child; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D006801:Humans; D009305:Nasopharynx / Q000382:microbiology; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000209:etiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D035781:Siblings
Heritability; Microbiome; Otitis; Statistics