Children with recurrent episodes of acute otitis media: the effect of local administration of immunoglobulin G on acute otitis media, colonization and turnover of non-encapsulated Haemophilus influenzae in the nasopharynx

In most children with recurrent episodes of acute otitis media (AOM), tube treatment is successful, but there are those who nevertheless suffer from m iddle ear infections. The aim of the present study was to ascertain whether local administration of immunoglobulin could reduce the number of episodes of otorrhoea in otitis-prone infants < 2 years old who were treated with t ubes, or whether it could affect the nasopharyngeal colonization and turnov er of bacterial pathogens in the nasopharynx. IgG or placebo were also admi nistered intranasally daily for 6 months to 50 infants, randomized in a dou ble-blind study. An arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction (AP-PCR) w as used to characterize the different isolates of NTHI (non-encapsulated, n on-typable Haemophilus influenzae). Three infants in the IgG group and six infants in the control group suffered from greater than or equal to 3 episo des of acute otitis media. No effect on the nasopharyngeal colonization or the turnover of non-encapsulated H. influenzae in the nasopharynx could be detected in either group.