[Microbiology in acute otitis media].

Acute otitis media is the most common bacterial infection in the child under 5 years of age and the leading reason for antibiotic prescriptions in Western countries. The choice of optimal antibiotic treatment is based essentially on microbiologic epidemiologic studies. The bacteria most often responsible for otitis belong to the commensal flora of the nasopharynx. French studies using paracentesis show that the main bacteria responsible for acute otitis media are H. influenzae, S. pneumoniae and M. catarrhalis. The epidemiology of resistance to antibiotics has recently changed, with the appearance of pneumococcal strains having reduced sensitivity to penicillin, and which have played a major role in treatment failures.