Turicella otitidis and Corynebacterium auris do not cause otitis media with effusion in children.

Abstract

The recently described coryneform bacteria and were first detected in the middle ear of patients with acute otitis media and chronic otitis media. Whether these bacteria play an essential role in the pathogenesis of otitis media with effusion (OME) is unclear. In a prospective study 60 children with OME and 205 controls were evaluated to determine the incidence of and. Swabs from the external auditory canal (EAC) and the middle ear effusion (MEE) of OME children undergoing tympanotomy, ventilation tube insertion or both were cultured. Swabs from the EAC from healthy children served as controls. In control children was found in EAC swabs from 23 of 205 (11.2%) and in 32 of 205 (15.6%). was isolated from 14 of 60 (23.3%) OME patients from the EAC only and in 6 of 60 (10.0%) OME patients from both EAC and MEE. was isolated in 2 of 60 (3.3%) from the EAC only and in 1 of 60 (1.7%) from both EAC and MEE. In no patient did or grow exclusively from MEE. and may be part of the normal bacterial flora of the EAC in some children. Neither organism seems to cause OME in children.