Clinical characteristics of respiratory syncytial virus infection-associated acute otitis media

Background: It is known that children with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection frequently have complications of acute otitis media (AOM). Methods: The hospital records of 148 inpatients aged 6-35 months who had RSV infection between January 2004 and December 2007, were retrospectively investigated. Results: Forty-six out of 148 children (31%) had AOM. There was a significantly greater number of children with fever who had AOM (P = 0.005). The percentage of children with beta-lactamase-non-producing ampicillin-resistant (BLNAR) Haemophilus influenzae in nasopharyngeal culture who had AOM showed a tendency to be greater than that of those who did not have AOM, but this was not statistically significant (P = 0.068). Moreover, BLNAR H. influenzae was positive in middle ear fluid specimens from four of five children with AOM who underwent tympanocentesis. There were no significant differences in the incidence of lower airway infection, leukocytes counts, or serum C-reactive protein levels between children with and without AOM. Conclusions: Children who had RSV infection with AOM had a higher incidence of fever than those without AOM.