Dangerous acute otitis media can be a complication of influenza, explains Prof. Piotr H. Skarżyński on the Polish Press Agency’s ‘Nauka w Polsce’ website as part of the ‘Zaszczep się Wiedzą’ campaign. It occurs most often in children, but can also affect adults, especially older people. Influenza vaccination offers the best protection.
Warm clothing and a suitable hat covering the ears are not enough: vaccination against seasonal influenza is needed. It protects against serious complications, including acute otitis media. Prof. Skarżyński says clothing should suit the weather, but seasonal vaccination is the best form of influenza prevention, for both adults and children. In children, influenza may cause dangerous acute otitis media; in older people, it may result in hearing loss or even deafness.
Ear infections are fairly common in childhood and less frequent later in life, as the body’s anatomy changes and the immune system matures.
‘It should be stressed that many diseases arise from neglect during childhood. The starting point may be an “ordinary” ear infection that was not diagnosed and treated promptly. In most adults and children, this illness is mild, but sometimes complications develop that require surgery to save hearing, which is often complex,’ emphasises Prof. Piotr H. Skarżyński.
He adds that hearing problems can follow influenza, mumps, rubella or measles. Both children and adults are at risk, although older people and young children are most vulnerable.
‘Hearing loss caused by infectious diseases used to be much more common. Today, thanks to vaccination, we contract diseases such as mumps far less often, so some illnesses are barely remembered,’ he adds.
Fortunately, complete hearing loss is not a common influenza complication.
‘In some cases, the virus can attack the inner ear, often causing hearing loss that, until recently, was irreversible. Fortunately, recent medical advances have enabled such patients to regain hearing through hearing implants, such as cochlear implants. However, if the virus attacks the nervous system, the prognosis is much worse, and irreversible complete deafness is far from the most serious complication that may threaten us,’ warns the specialist.
He gives measles as an example: it is not merely a mild childhood illness, but a dangerous infectious disease. It can cause otitis media and, in the worst cases, encephalitis, which leads to death in 5 per cent of cases. The specialist acknowledges that some people are reluctant to vaccinate, but says the COVID-19 pandemic has changed much in this respect. Since March, more people have asked about influenza vaccination.
‘I think fear of coronavirus has led some people to reconsider their position. As a doctor who sees patients with various illnesses every day, I can imagine what failing to vaccinate children may cause. I believe that truly confronting the threat of irreversible complications, such as the death of one’s own child, that diseases can cause will change opponents’ attitudes to vaccines,’ believes Prof. Piotr H. Skarżyński.
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