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'Slime' May Cause Kids' Ear Infections

Posted on: Wednesday, 12 July 2006, 06:00 CDT

By Liz Szabo

Slime can turn up anywhere -- on rocks, in bathtub drains, even in the plaque on our teeth.

Slime may even be at the root of chronic childhood ear infections. A new study of children with ear infections found slimy "biofilms" coating their middle ears. The films protect bacteria from the body's natural defenses and spur the body to produce gooey fluid that can become trapped in the ear.

Bacteria encased in the films are especially resistant to antibiotics, which explains why the medications are all but useless in treating chronic ear infections, according to an article in today's Journal of the American Medical Association. Ear infections send more children to doctors than any other ailment, says Garth Ehrlich, the study's lead author.

Oral antibiotics often work well on short-term ear infections because such ailments are typically caused by bacteria that float freely in the ears, says Ehrlich, executive director of the Center for Genomic Sciences at Allegheny-Singer Research Institute in Pittsburgh.

Bacteria-filled films can lead to long-running infections, however. Children with chronic infections may not shriek in pain like those who have a short-term infection. But all that fluid can make it hard for children to hear, which can keep them from learning to speak properly, Ehrlich says.

Ehrlich says his study doesn't suggest any new treatments. But his research does support the practice of inserting tubes into the ears of children with chronic infections. This surgery gives doctors an opportunity to suck out bacteria-filled fluid, Ehrlich says. The tubes let oxygen into the middle ear, which helps the body fight infection.

Tubes also allow eardrops to reach the source of infection, says Richard Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatrics. The concentration of antibiotics delivered through eardrops is 1,000 times stronger than the dose available in oral medications, such as syrups.

Tubes can be inserted by pediatric ear, nose and throat specialists, says Zorik Spektor, a pediatric otolaryngologist in West Palm Beach, Fla. Doctors use general anesthesia, which always poses a slight risk, and surgery typically takes 10 to 15 minutes. Tubes often fall out on their own after a year or so. Insurance plans usually cover it.

The journal describes Ehrlich's study as preliminary, and he notes that other doctors should confirm its results. Researchers collected tissue samples from 26 children who had tubes placed because of ear infections. Doctors found biofilms in 92% of 50 specimens they collected. Doctors found no biofilms in eight patients without ear infections. Ehrlich notes that it was difficult to find a comparison group, because few people have ear surgery unless they have infections.

The study was financed by the National Institutes of Health and involved medical centers.

(c) Copyright 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

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