Non-capsulated and capsulated Haemophilus influenzae in children with acute otitis media in Venezuela: a prospective epidemiological study

Between December 2008 and December 2009, 91 AOM episodes (including sporadic, recurrent and treatment failures) were studied in 87 children enrolled into a medical center in Caracas, Venezuela. Middle ear fluid samples were collected either by tympanocentesis or spontaneous otorrhea swab sampling method. Standard laboratory and microbiological techniques were used to identify bacteria and test for antimicrobial resistance. The results were interpreted according to Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) 2009 for non-meningitis isolates. All statistical analyses were performed using SAS 9.1 and Microsoft Excel (for graphical purposes).Overall, bacteria were cultured from 69.2% (63 of the 91 episodes); at least one pathogen (S. pneumoniae, H. influenzae, S. pyogenes or M. catarrhalis) was cultured from 65.9% (60/91) of episodes. H. influenzae (55.5%; 35/63 episodes) and S. pneumoniae (34.9%; 22/63 episodes) were the most frequently reported bacteria. Among H. influenzae isolates, 62.9% (22/35 episodes) were non-capsulated (NTHi) and 31.4% (11/35 episodes) were capsulated including types d, a, c and f, across all age groups. Low antibiotic resistance for H. influenzae was observed to amoxicillin/ampicillin (5.7%; 2/35 samples). NTHi was isolated in four of the six H. influenzae positive samples (66.7%) from recurrent episodes.We found H. influenzae and S. pneumoniae to be the main pathogens causing AOM in Venezuela. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines with efficacy against these bacterial pathogens may have the potential to maximize protection against AOM.Acute otitis media (AOM) is one of the most frequently diagnosed bacterial infections in children following nasopharyngeal colonization [1]. It results in frequent pediatric visits both in the developed [2] and developing world [3]. Approximately, three in four children develop at least one episode of AOM by 3 years of age, [4] with peak incidences observed among 6-18 month-old children [2]. A report on the epidemi