Health Conditions

What are the risk factors?

Several factors can increase the likelihood of getting otitis media:

• Winter season: Otitis media is more common in the winter months, when viral infections of the respiratory tract are more common. These infections can predispose an individual to bacterial infections like otitis media

• Environmental factors: Second-hand smoke and high levels of air pollution can weaken a young child's immune system, increasing the chance of getting otitis media.

• Attendance at a daycare center: Children who are around sick children, either siblings or playmates at a daycare center, are at increased risk of getting all types of infections, including otitis media.

• Previous case: Individuals who have had otitis media are more likely to develop the infection than those who have never had it.

• Age at first ear infection: The younger the child at the time of the first ear infection, the greater the child's risk of subsequent ear infections.

• Bottle-feeding: A bottle-fed child is more likely to get otitis media than a child who is breast fed. That is because antibodies (proteins that defend the body from foreign substances) are passed from a mother to her breast-fed infant through her breast milk, speeding the development of the baby's immune system and increasing resistance to infection. The immune system is slower to develop in infants who are bottle fed.

• Race: Otitis media is more prevalent among Native Americans and Eskimos from Alaska or Canada than among individuals of other races.

• Weakened immune system: Children with immune systems that are not working as well as they should are at increased risk of many infections including otitis media.

• Presence of physical abnormalities: Some physical conditions - for example, cleft palate, enlarged adenoids (glands near the ear), or Down's syndrome - increase an individual's chance of getting otitis media.

• Other factors: Allergies, sinus infections, and gastroesophageal reflux disease all may put children at an increased risk for developing otitis media.