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SALT LAKE CITY — Babies and children who have frequent ear infections are at risk of long-term speech and hearing deficits, in addition to the possible pain and misery of the condition itself.
That's according to research from the University of Florida published in the International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology. The researchers found that chronic ear infections can lead to deficits in auditory processing and language development even years later.
They say parents should ensure their children receive proper care to avoid chronic ear infections.
"Ear infections are so common that we tend to dismiss them as having no long-term effect," Susan Nittrouer, the lead researcher and a professor of speech, language and hearing sciences at the university, said in a written statement. "We should take all ear infections seriously. Parents should be aware that their child may have some middle ear fluid without it being painful and work with their doctor to monitor their child closely."
Otitis media
The study included 117 children ages 5-10. Forty-nine had significant histories of ear infection, called otitis media, while 68 of the children did not. The researchers used three games that were designed to show how well the children were doing in speech and language development and hearing, while capturing their attention and keeping them engaged.
In one test, they asked the children which of three cartoon characters sounded different from the others, changing the patterns of loudness, which is key to recognizing speech structure. For the second, they asked children to identify pictures, a measure of vocabulary size. Then they were asked to match words "based on whether they began or ended with the same speech sound, a task essential not only to speech development but also to learning to read."
Researchers found that the children with and the children without histories of ear infections paid attention about equally, but those who had experienced ear infections did not perform as well on the auditory or language measures they used. Children who had several ear infections before age 3 had smaller vocabularies and more difficulty matching similar sounds than the children who had few or no ear infections.
They also struggled to detect changes in sounds, "a sign of problems in their brain's auditory processing centers," per the news release.
Nittrouer and her colleague Joanna Lowenstein, a researcher at the University of Florida Health Clinical and Translational Science Institute, said children should be monitored even when the earaches seem to stop. Some of the language deficits may not show up for years.
"As children go through school, the language they're required to use becomes more complex," Nittrouer said.
Spotting an ear infection
The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders says an ear infection is inflammation of the middle ear caused when fluid builds up behind the eardrum. It's more common in children than adults and most children will have one or more before age 3.
Among the signs a young child has an ear infection:
- Tugging on the ears.
- Fussiness and crying.
- Not sleeping.
- Fever (especially in babies and younger children).
- Fluid draining from the ear.
- Balance problems.
- Trouble hearing or responding to quiet sounds.
The institute notes there are also some preventive steps that parents can take to lower risk of ear infections. They include:
- Have the child vaccinated against influenza and get the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, which protects against more types of infection-causing bacteria.
- Wash hands frequently.
- Never expose the baby to cigarette smoke. Babies who are exposed have more ear infections.
- Don't let sick children spend time together.
