“We don’t know what’s happening exactly, but there seems to be something about these two bacteria working together that appears to be giving children protection.”
Both bacterial strains are known to researchers, but this is the first time their relationship to middle-ear infections has been established.
Middle-ear infections are relatively common across the entire population, however indigenous children are particularly affected by them, experiencing both higher rates of the infections and increased severity, on average.
Additionally, Australian First Nations children experience one of the highest rates of ear infections of any Indigenous group worldwide.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the rate of long-term hearing issues in Indigenous children aged 0 to 14 was estimated to be almost three times the rate for non-Indigenous children – 8.4 per cent compared with 2.9 per cent.
Dr Bialasiewicz said their findings indicated more research could uncover the underlying reason the two strains of bacteria worked together to prevent ear infections, leading to potential treatments.
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“There’s some suggestion that they both feed off each other and produce compounds that inhibit these other bacterial species, but there’s also the possibility they simply take up the space that would otherwise be taken by more harmful bacteria,” he said.
“So depending on which it is, you could develop these species as a probiotic, or potentially isolate the compounds they are creating and synthesise them.”
UQ’s Andrea Coleman, who completed her PhD on this project, said the potential benefits for the community were huge.
“This disease can cause hearing loss and can have life-long impacts on speech and language development, education, and future employment prospects, and in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations, it contributes to the wide gap in educational and employment outcomes,” Dr Coleman said.
The research has been published in the journal Microbiology Spectrum.
Bacteria found to team up to protect kids from ear infections
Source: Philippines Alive
