Archives of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, August 2009
UTMB’s Dr. Tasnee Chonmaitree, in a letter to the editor, questions the parameters of a prior study about otitis media (ear infections) and their occurrence in children who also had an upper respiratory tract infection because the study focused on children ranging in age from 1 to 8.6. Chonmaitree notes in her comments that otitis media is a disease that peaks in infants between 6 months and 18 months. And she concludes her comments with: “Finally, while I agree with the authors that one general approach to preventing OM associated with vURTI is to prevent virus transmission in the population at risk (infants and young children), we must continue to work toward the prevention of OM by the use of viral vaccines. Work by my colleagues and others has shown the significance of respiratory syncytial virus in AOM in infants and young children. 5 Development of a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus should continue to be a high priority. The vaccine, when available, has the potential to make an impact on the incidence of OM, one of the most common pediatric diseases.”