Treatment for middle ear infection in children without antibiotics

US experts spoke in the journal Science Translational Medicine that they have studied a small ear gel that makes it easier, more effective and safer to treat childhood ear infections.

When used, the gel can provide antibiotics directly to the ear, avoiding side effects to the whole body and avoiding the occurrence of antibiotic resistance.

The author of the study said that giving children antibiotics is a very difficult task, and it needs to be taken 2-3 times a day for 7-10 days continuously.

If a child is unable to complete antibiotic treatment, it may lead to antibiotic resistance. The use of oral antibiotics needs to be through blood circulation to the middle ear, even some children also suffer from side effects such as vomiting, dermatitis, diarrhea ., leading to disorders of the biological system. intestinal tract.

"Giving a child an antibiotic is like a martial art," said Daniel Kohane, a senior researcher and director of the Laboratory at Boston Children's Hospital.

The new gel can help with antibiotics, ciprofloxacin, through the eardrum into the middle ear.

Moreover, parents often stop treatment too early because their condition becomes better within a few days, but this may increase the risk of bacterial resistance.

Using eardrops to treat middle ear infections is a goal of many years of human pursuit while eardrum is a barrier to many drugs and becomes an obstacle to the treatment of otitis media.

"For oral antibiotics, blood circulation is required to reach the middle ear , " said Duong Dung, a chemical engineer in Kohane's laboratory and the first author of the study. "With gel, a pediatrician can manage antibiotics and act only where needed".

The new gel can help with antibiotics, ciprofloxacin, through the eardrum into the middle ear.

"Our technology will overcome the return to the eardrum and in sufficient quantities to be treated , " Kohane said.

When tested with squirrels, rodents have the same ear structure as humans, the gel completely cures ear infections caused by Haemophilus influenzae bacteria , a common cause of otitis media.

According to the researchers, the drug flows directly into the middle ear and has been undetectable in the blood, indicating squirrels are able to avoid systemic toxicity.

"The gel melts within three weeks and the rodent's eardrum seems normal after treatment," said the study.

Kohane hopes to start testing the gel in patients in the next few months.