Bacteriology of chronic otitis media affecting children living in Rio de Janeiro.

A bacteriologic analysis was performed on the purulent exudates obtained from the middle ears of 45 children living in Rio de Janeiro with CSOM and spontaneous perforations of the ear drum. Anaerobic cultures showed anaerobic bacteria in association with aerobic or facultatively anaerobic bacteria, or both, in 30 (66.7%) specimens. Facultative anaerobic microorganisms occurred in 42 (93.3%) of the specimens analyzed, strict aerobes in 17 (37.8%), capnophilic in 6 (13.3%), and fungi in 4 (8.9%). The rate of different species of bacteria isolated per sample was 4.4:1.87 for anaerobic and 1.84 for facultative microorganisms. Multiple drug resistances in the aerobic and facultative bacteria were found, and tetracycline, erythromycin, and beta-lactam antibiotic resistances were accentuated in the anaerobic bacteria.