The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Lend your ears to what experts say on children’s ailments Health & Lifestyle

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Tuesday, Jan 06, 2009
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Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Lend your ears to what experts say on children’s ailments Health & Lifestyle

R. Sujatha

— FILE PHOTO: K. PICHUMANI

PREVENTABLE: Children are more prone to middle-ear infections, say doctors.

CHENNAI: Ear infection is a common, preventable problem but lack of awareness about the need to test for possible infection could even lead to deafness.

With infants and babies who are unable to express themselves, unless a doctor diagnoses the ear infection, it could lead to serious problems later. They are also more susceptible to ear infections.

A bout of cold or upper respiratory infection could result in a middle ear infection. The medical term for this condition is otitis media. The mucous membranes in the ear canals or Eustachian tubes that connect the middle ear and the back of the throat become swollen. When fluid from the tube collects in the middle ear, the inner side of the eardrum gets infected. The fluid presses on the eardrum, causing ear-ache. At some point, the eardrum may rupture, letting the pus run into the ear canal and out of the ear.

“In the early years when the child is not able to hear we call it delay in development and it may not be recognised. Though it is a treatable condition and majority do get treated, once in a while you do come across patients with perforated eardrum,” says S. Balasubramanian, consultant senior paediatrician at Kanchi Kamakoti Childs Trust Hospital. “Sometimes it may go undetected for the entire lifetime. In India otitis media is not often recognised, for the early symptom may be just a fussy baby.”

Children in day care centres are more prone to middle ear infection. Exposure to tobacco smoke, overcrowding, poor nutritional status and viral infection predispose a child for bacterial infection of the middle ear, he says. “Treating ear infections with local ear drops is like mopping the floor. What you need is proper duration, proper course and proper antibiotics and avoiding use of ear drops.”

One of the most cost-effective interventions is promotion of breastfeeding, he says. Studies published in medical journals have shown that exclusive breastfeeding for a longer time can prevent the infection.

“A cold, sinusitis or tonsilitis problem could affect the ear. In children, the Eustachian tubes are not yet fully developed, are shorter, wider and straighter than in adults. This makes it easier for an infectious agent to reach the middle ear. The ear is small in children and you need specialised equipment to look into the ear,” says ENT surgeon Ravi Ramalingam of KKR ENT Hospital.

“Often ear infection is detected only when the pus comes out of the ear.”

Simply using good quality drinking water or boiling water before drinking could prevent infection in school-going children, he says.

“Paediatricians should look into the ear. Where bacterial infection is evident, patients may have to take a course of antibiotics.”

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