Effect of Probiotics on Nasopharyngeal Microbiome of Children With Otitis Media With Effusion

The aim of this study is to investigate whether the microbiota in the upper respiratory tract (nasopharynx, adenoids and middle ear fluid) of otitis media with effusion (OME) patients is changed after 4 weeks of probiotic product intake. Therefore, bacterial DNA from swabs, fluid and tissue will be isolated via commercially available DNA extraction kits, followed by Illumina MiSeq sequencing in order to identify the bacterial species present in these samples. Furthermore, the concentration of specific pathogens will be monitored via qPCR.