Ear Infections

This is happy news!

Ear infections are uncomfortable for both the babies who have them and their parents whose nights are disrupted, but new research shows that fewer American babies are getting ear infections compared to 20 years ago.

The researchers followed 300 newborns through their first year. Almost half of them had at least one infection during that year. This is a big drop since the 1980s and 90s. The number of babies with ear infections during the first three months of life dropped by two thirds. Good news indeed.

This decline did not surprise lead researcher Dr. Tasnee Chonmaitree. Here’s why:

VACCINES: There is a vaccine that’s been available for a few years (the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine) that protects against several strains of bacteria which can cause serious illness such pneumonia and meningitis. These bacteria are also major causes of children’s middle ear infections.

Also, annual flu shots are now recommended for babies and children. These may help too, as ear infections may arise following a viral infection like the flu or common cold.

So it may be that these recommended vaccines have an additional benefit of driving down the rate of ear infections in babies and children.

BREAST FEEDING: Exclusive breast feeding during the first six months helps lower the rate of ear infections. There are a few reasons: Breast milk contains antibodies that can protect the babies against infections. Also, breast fed babies spend less time feeding from a bottle while on their backs. That position may make some babies more vulnerable to infections. The author said “breast feeding is good and should be encouraged to do it if they can.”

CIGARETTE SMOKING: Smoking cigarettes is down, and although the number of babies in the study is too small to clearly implicate second hand smoke, the researchers believe that the impressive reduction in smoking in the last few decades has had a positive effect on reducing the incidence of ear infections in young children.