[Dynamic changes in the microbial contamination of the exudate and the mucous membrane from the tympanic cavity in the course of experimental staphylococcal otitis media].

The objective of the present study was to determine the relationships between characteristics of the microbial contamination of the pyogenic exudate and the mucous membrane from the tympanic cavity in the course of experimental suppurative otitis media caused by staphylococcal infection. The experiments were carried out on 29 rabbits showing no signs of "spontaneous" otitis. Experimental staphylococcal suppurative otitis was induced in 26 of these animals. The degree of microbial contamination of the mucous membrane from the tympanic cavity was expressed either in colony-forming units per swab (CFU/swab) or as the number of microbial cells per 1 mg of the tissue. It was shown that microbial contamination of the exudate and the mucous membrane from the tympanic cavity depended on the extent of the inflammatory process in the middle ear in the course of experimental staphylococcal otitis. The highest degree of contamination fell on the acute phase of middle ear inflammation. Staphylococci disappeared from the mucous membrane sooner than from the exudate. This difference can be attributed to the different activity of the tssue immunity factors.