Acute otitis media (AOM) is a common childhood disease, which becomes recurrent in 15-20% of the cases. Streptococcus pneumoniae is one of the leading causative agents, and a small reduction in the number of AOM episodes has been noted in unselected child cohorts after vaccination with conjugate heptavalent pneumococcal vaccine. This study was performed in order to investigate whether vaccination could reduce the number of AOM episodes in very young, otitis-prone children.
Ninetysix children (46 vaccinated, 50 not) with an onset of AOM before six months of age, implying a high risk for developing rAOM, were recruited between 2003 and 2007. They were closely followed with clinical visits and nasopharyngeal cultures until the age of two years.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
109
ENT Department, Lund University Hospital
Lund, Sweden
Possible reduction of the number of acute otitis media episodes after conjugate pneumococcal vaccination in young otitis-prone children
Children with an acute otitis media onset before 6 months of age, implying an 80% risk for developing recurrent acute otitis media, were allocated to vaccination with heptavalent conjugate pneumococcal vaccine or to no vaccination. The number of acute otitis media episodes before two years of age in each group were recorded.
Time frame: 2 years
Nasopharyngeal carriage in young otitis-prone children
The children in the vaccination study described above, had nasopharyngeal samples taken very frequently (every other month during the first year in the study, and at every suspected new episode of acute otitis media). The cultures were analyzed and compared with respect to vaccination status, risk factors, proneness to acute otitis media etc
Time frame: 3 years
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