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Changes in bacteriology of discharging ears

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2006

Juen-Haur Hwang
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Poh-Ai Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Chih-Kai Chu
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Poh-Ai Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Tien-Chen Liu
Affiliation:
Departments of Otolaryngology, Poh-Ai Hospital, and College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Lotung, Taipei, Taiwan.

Abstract

A bacteriological study on 161 consecutive out-patients presenting with otorrhoea was performed prospectively at a local teaching hospital in Taiwan between August 2000 and June 2001. A total of 177 isolates were recovered. Staphylococcus aureus was found in 77 (43.5 per cent) isolates, and non-Staphylococcus aureus in 100 (56.5 per cent) isolates. Pseudomas sp was found to be the most common pathogen (28.8 per cent) in the non-Staphylococcus aureus group. Staphylococcus aureus had become more common than Pseudomonas aeruginosa in acute otitis externa, granular myringitis, and chronic otitis media in Taiwan. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was also an increasing problem in all three disease entities. The prevalence of community-acquired MRSA infections in discharging ears was found to be 13.7 per cent (22/161). MRSAs were highly susceptible to vancomycin, teicoplanin, fusidic acid, and minocycline. More studies should be done to determine the susceptibility of MRSA to ofloxacin in the future.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© Royal Society of Medicine Press Limited 2002

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