Predominant Bacterial and Viral Otopathogens Identified Within the Respiratory Tract and Middle Ear of Urban Australian Children Experiencing Otitis Media Are Diversely Distributed.

Background: Otitis media (OM) is one of the most common infections in young children, arising from bacterial and/or viral infection of the middle ear. Globally, and non-typeable (NTHi) are the predominant bacterial otopathogens. Importantly, common upper respiratory viruses are increasingly recognized contributors to the polymicrobial pathogenesis of OM.

Sites of origin of oral cavity cancer in nonsmokers vs smokers: possible evidence of dental trauma carcinogenesis and its importance compared with human papillomavirus.

Importance: The relatively high and possibly rising incidence of mouth squamous cell carcinoma in nonsmokers, especially women, without obvious cause has been noted by previous authors. Is chronic dental trauma and irritation a carcinogen, and what is its importance compared with human papillomavirus (HPV) oropharyngeal cancer in nonsmokers?

Objective: To determine whether oral cavity cancers occurred more commonly at sites of dental trauma and how the position of these cancers varied between nonsmokers lacking major identified carcinogens and smokers. If these cancers occurred more frequently at sites of chronic trauma, especially in nonsmokers, it would suggest chronic dental trauma as a possible carcinogen.

Complications of otitis media in Indigenous and non-Indigenous children.

In Australia, three to five children die each year because of otitis media complications, and 15 children will suffer permanent hearing loss each year as a result of otitis media. Extracranial complications occur most commonly, and include mastoiditis, cholesteatoma and otitis media with perforation. Intracranial complications are less common, and include meningitis, brain abscess and lateral sinus thrombosis.

A rare cause of specific cough in a child: the importance of following-up children with chronic cough.

For many years, the term 'specific cough' has been used as a clinical cough descriptor in children to signify the likelihood of an underlying disease causing the cough. In this case study, we describe a child with specific cough caused by a rare carcinoma, a mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the bronchus. The cough only totally resolved after the primary cause was successfully treated.

Chemoprevention of head and neck cancer with retinoids: a negative result.

Objective: To determine whether isotretinoin (or 13-cis-retinoic acid) decreases the risk of second primary cancers in patients previously treated for cure of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Design: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Setting: Two head and neck multidisciplinary cancer clinics in university teaching hospitals taking cases from 4 to 5 million people in Queensland, Australia, combined to enter appropriate patients into this trial.