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This section will feature
a weekly report which generated a lot of interest when it was first
featured on the Medical Breakthroughs site. Come back weekly to read each
highlight as we "Play It Again!"
January 2001 
Preventing Ear Infections
 (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Here's a pop quiz: Your toddler is
irritable, fighting a fever, and tugging on his ear. What does this mean?
You guessed it — another ear infection, and another round of antibiotics.
When will it end? Soon, if a new vaccine does its job.
Yvonne Tsai, M.D., a
pediatrician at UCLA Medical Group in Pacific Palisades, California, and
Joshua Nord are good buddies. Thanks to his ears, they've seen a lot of
each other.
Joshua has had an ear
infection every three months for a year. Antibiotics are losing their
punch.
Karen Schnell, Joshua's
mother, says, "[With each infection] he'll go through round one and
that doesn't work. Then he'll go to round two, and that doesn't work. Then
he gets to round three, fortunately, that one has worked."
 Surgery — round four — may not be necessary if this new
vaccine works. Prevnar® (diphtheria CRM197 protein) was originally created
to prevent meningitis and blood infections in children under two. Since the
same bacteria can cause ear infections, doctors say the vaccine may succeed
in preventing them.
Dr. Tsai says,
"[Using Prevnar®], the rate of going to surgery and needing ear tubes
is decreased by about 20 percent."
Who should get the
vaccine? Dr. Tsai says all children under 2 and those age 2 to 5 who are
high risk — those with a chronic illness, abnormal immune system, HIV,
sickle cell disease, or have a damaged spleen.
Karen says, "I'm
just trying to give him the best shot I can on all fronts. Whatever I can
do to help his immune system or help protect him from the things he will be
exposed to."
 If Prevnar® reduces ear infections it will also reduce
the over-use of antibiotics — making them more potent when these little
guys need them most.
Most insurance
companies cover the vaccine for children under 2 and those in the high-risk
group. Side effects are similar to those for the DTAP vaccine.
If you would like
more information, please contact:
Roxanne
Yamaguchi Moster
UCLA
Health Sciences Communications
924 Westwood Blvd., Suite 350
Los Angeles, CA 90095-7103
(310) 794-0777
Related
Articles:
Laser
Away Ear Infections (March 1999)
Smoking
and Your Child (February 1998)
Hidden
Hearing Loss (August 1997)
Magic
Bullet for Ear Infections (August 1997)
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