Clinical outcome in children with culture-negative acute otitis media.

Background: Culture-negative AOM is often milder and associated with lower local/systemic inflammatory responses than culture-positive AOM.

Study Objectives: To compare the clinical outcome of culture-negative AOM with that of culture-positive AOM children.

Patients And Methods: Children aged 3 to 35 months with AOM were enrolled in 11 double-tympanocentesis antibiotic efficacy studies documenting both bacteriologic (days 4-6 of treatment) and clinical outcome (days 11-14, end of treatment).