Microbial Profile In Children With Secretory Otitis Media In Zaria, Nigeria

Sixty (60) children with secretory otitis media and 60 age and sex matched controls were recruited for the study. Ear-discharge swabs were taken from children with secretory otitis media and cultured for microbial isolation and identification. Un-paired student t-test was used to compare the difference between the children with secretory otitis media and the control group, while Chi-squared test was used to determine association between the variables. Different microbial pathogens were isolated from the ears of those with otitis media in Zaria including Staphylococcus aureus (32.7%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (20.0%), Escherichia coli (9.1%), Proteus spp. (9.1%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (7.3%), Candida albicans (5.5%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (5.5%), Streptococcus pyogenes (5.5%), Corynbacterium diptheriae (3.6%) and Citrobacter fruindii (1.8%).There is a paradigm shift in the aetiology of otitis media from the 3 most common organisms of otitis media to other microbial agents in this part of the world. Therefore, microbial identification should inform the choice of antibiotics before administration.