Dr. Sandra Serrano, head of the Hospiten Roca Pediatrics Emergency Service, explains that germs found in pooled water are the main cause of ear infection.
The healthcare group offers advice on the prevention of ear infection, which causes inflammation, itching and mild to intense earache.
San Agustin, August 2018:- The Hospiten Group warns of the increased risk in summer of children catching external otitis, also known as swimmer’s ear, caused by germs, like pseudomona, found in pooled water.
As pediatrician Dr. Sandra Serrano explains, water in swimming pools, ponds or at some beaches with little current accumulate a lot of bacteria and if this gets into the outer ear canal, it can damage the skin, changing its pH, creating a breeding ground for bacteria. This can also happen if virus or fungi get into the ear.
She adds that, as a result of an infection, “the skin lining the ear canal becomes inflamed first causing itching and then mild to intense earache, which gets worse when the ear is touched, for instance when putting on a T-shirt, or when swallowing or even chewing”.
Dr. Serrano says that treatment involves seeing a doctor who will diagnose the problem and prescribe the most suitable treatment for the infection. She recommends consulting a doctor “as soon as the first symptoms appear to start treatment straight away”.
The doctor assures the public that treatment is simple with antibiotics, which are easily administered in the form of drops, although she also points out that if treatment is delayed or not completed, “the infection may worsen and become recurrent, which would have to be treated with oral antibiotics and anti-inflammatory steroids”.
Hospiten recommends taking a series of preventive measures to avoid infection such as keeping children’s ears dry, using ear plugs and making sure there is no water in the ear canal after bathing.
Hospiten Roca Pediatrics Emergency Service, consisting of a team of 10 experienced pediatricians, offers 24-hour professional care 365 days a year. The service, opened in 2017, handles an average of 1,300 pediatric cases a month. The service has also widened its range of services and equipment, and currently includes a pediatric defibrillator, resuscitation cubicles and 24-hour ultrasound.
The Hospiten Group is an international healthcare network committed to providing service of the highest quality, with almost 50 years’ experience, which has twenty private medical-hospital centers in Spain, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Jamaica and Panama, and more than one hundred ambulatory, own and associated medical centers under the Clinic Assist brand. The group is chaired by Dr. Pedro Luis Cobiella and attends more than 1,700,000 patients from around the world annually, and employs more than 5,000 people.