About infections

Hearing loss causes learning disability. Temporary hearing loss occurs in young children due to ear infections. Language development takes place in children around the same time too. Therefore, the inability to hear clearly impairs the ability to learn. Hence care should be taken to promptly treat ear infections in children.

Certain people are more at risk for getting ear infections. The following are more prone: babies that are bottle-fed lying down, people who breathe secondhand smoke, people who have a family history of ear infections, and people who have allergy problems.

If a child has recurrent middle ear infections, the doctor may recommend a tympanometry test. This is done to evaluate the eardrum. This test can detect tumors, impacted earwax, scarring, perforation, etc. of the eardrum. The real cause of the infection can thus be found with this test.

It is very important to breast-feed a child at least until it is six months old. Breast-feeding not only protects a child against ear infections, but a whole lot of other infections too. Breast milk has many antibodies that help a child fight infection.

A vaccine that can help prevent ear infections in young children has been developed by Czech scientists. Ear infections are very common among young children. They can be sometimes be very painful and in rare cases may cause long-term damage.