Microbiological study of otitis media

Abstract

Otitis media is a destructive & persistent disease with irreversible sequelae. It is associated with bacterial or fungal aetiology. Objectives: 1) To identify bacterial isolates causing ear infection and their antibiogram. 2) To identify fungal isolates 3) To screen all smears for Acid Fast Bacilli (AFB). Materials and Methods: This study was conducted for 1 year. Pus was collected with sterile swab before commencement of antibiotics, from 98 patients of otitis media, attending ENT OPD. Gram’s staining & Gabbet’s staining (Modified ZN staining) was done for all the samples. Bacterial & fungal isolates were identified by standard methods. Antibiotic susceptibility testing of bacterial isolates was carried out by Kirby Bauer’s disc diffusion method. Results: Age of the patients studied, ranged from 2 to 68 years. Of the 98 patients, 48 were females and 50 were males. Bacterial isolates and their incidence were: Staphylococcus aureus(31%), CONS(6%), Pseudomonas species(20%), Klebsiella species(7%), Proteus species(5%). 4 fungi were isolated. 2 samples showed acid fast bacilli on Gabbet’s staining. Conclusions: The most common organisim causing Otitis media in this study was Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA). Antibiotic treatment should be individualized depending on antibiotic sensitivity report, to reduce chronicity, complications & morbidity. It also showed in the study that, doing acid fast staining routinely could be of help as it helped to diagnose two cases of pulmonary tuberculosis. Keywords: ENT- ear, nose, throat, OPD- out patient department, CONS- coagulase negative staphylococci, MSSA- methicillin sensitive staphylococcus aureus, AFB- acid fast bacilli