August 29, 2016
Hope in glue ear fight
There’s hope a new vaccine will have a positive effect on reducing high rates of glue ear among tamariki Maori.
Pharmac has agreed to fund Synflorix, which is designed to reduce otitis media or middle ear infections.
Starship paediatric ear, nose and throat specialist Colin Barber says while four out of five children will have had at least one episode of the condition by the time they are three, it is Maori and Pasifika children who are more likely to end up in hospital with it and to suffer long term damage.
He says it used to be thought that was because of genetic factors, but poverty and overcrowding are more likely factors.
"Kids who live in more strained conditions are more likely to get ear infections and especially if it's difficult financially or difficult in time terms to get to the doctor to get this managed and to get it identified, because it's hard to tell when the kids are unhappy. Sometimes you don't know they've got an ear infection, he says.
Dr Barber says untreated infections can cause hearing loss, especially at a time children are learning language.
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