Infants Ear Infection

    Written by: Waheeda Sabir

According to the information provided by the authorities of Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital, Kabul city about 20-25 children suffering from ear infection are taken to this hospital for treatment daily and most of them are infants.

AEPO’s writer/producer has talked to some parents of these children and a physician about this disease.

A mother from Khak-e-Jabar district, Kabul province says: “my baby is suffering from an ear infection. She does sleep the whole night and she is also suffering from green diarrhea.”

Another mother from Qarabagh district, Kabul province says: “My one-year-old child is suffering from earache and blood is coming out of her ear and she is crying. The doctor said that her eardrum is ruptured.”

Doctor Omar Ahmad Razmi, ear, nose and throat specialist at Indira Gandhi children’s Hospital says: “ear infection is a middle ear disease. During this disease children might have difficulty in sleeping or lying down; crying more than usual; suffering from fever and diarrhea; vomiting and the reduction of appetite. If not treated on time, the baby might lose her hearing forever.”

What do people think about the causes of ear infection in infants?

A mother from Qarabagh district, Kabul province says: “I was cleaning my kid’s ear with a matchstick and now he is suffering from earache.”

Another mother, a resident of Kapisa province says: “I was breastfeeding my baby while I was laying down and now he is suffering from an ear infection.”

Doctor Ramzi says: “Infant ear infection has different causes. One of them is breastfeeding the infant in an improper way. If a mother breastfeeds her baby while she is laying down, the milk might goes to the baby’s ear and causes an ear infection. The common cold of babies is another cause of ear infection. In this case, the child could not inbreathe well and it causes the pain of the ear. Cleaning the infant’s ear by a sharp object and allowing water to drip into an infant's ear during a bath could be also caused an ear infection.”

How do people treat an infant ear infection at homes?

A mother from Bamiyan province says: “We fry the garlic in oil and then wrap it in cotton and put it in the infected ear.”

A mother, a resident of Ahmad Shah Baba Mena, district 16 of Kabul city says: “We drop a few drops of mother’s milk in the affected ear of the baby.”

Doctor Razmi says: “when a child is suffering from the ear pain, the mother should massage the infant’s infected ear with a soft warm clothe till she takes him/her to the doctor and they should avoid any kind drops without the prescription of the physician.”

How do people prevent infant ear infection?

A mother says: “I put some cotton in the ears of my infant during his bathing and I have never breastfed the baby while I am laying down.”

Some other mothers have the same opinion about the prevention of infant ear infection.

The doctor says: “To use the cross-cradle position, bring baby across your body, so if the baby is nursing on your left side, you hold the baby; supporting his neck with your right arm and support the breast with your left hand.”