Staphylococcus is one of the most important pathogenic bacteria in chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM). The prevalence of pathogenic bacteria in patients with CSOM has not been compared with the prevalence rates in patients from other fields of medicine. We investigated the pathogenic bacteria in CSOM throughout Korea and annual isolation rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) over 6 years. Routine culture results and susceptibility data of CSOM isolated from 2000 to 2005 were collected from six general hospitals in Korea, along with the results of all clinically isolated Staphylococci from one tertiary care teaching hospital. Of the 1,162 bacteria identified in 1,360 CSOM patients, 628 (54.0%) were Staphylococci in CSOM. Of the latter, 288 (45.9%) were MRSA, which accounted for 24.8% of identified bacteria. Of the 5,988 clinically isolated Staphylococci from one tertiary care hospital, 3,712 (61.9%) were MRSA. All MRSA isolated from CSOM patients were sensitive to vancomycin and teicoplanin, and 88.2% were sensitive to sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim. In contrast, these strains showed little or no sensitivity to oxacillin, clindamycin, penicillin, and erythromycin. Annual MRSA isolation rates showed no tendencies to increase or decrease. MRSA was the most frequently identified Staphylococcus in patients with otorrhea. The isolation rate of MRSA has not changed over 6 years. Continuous and periodic surveillance of MRSA is necessary to reduce the spread of antibiotic-resistant pathogens and to guide appropriate antibacterial therapy.

This intervention study was to evaluate the impact of reproductive health education on the knowledge and attitude of adolescents in a rural Nigerian community to reproductive health issues. It compared adolescents in a secondary school (study group), which received health education on reproductive health with another secondary school (control group), which did not receive any. The impact of the programme was evaluated with a pre-test baseline knowledge and post-test gain in the knowledge 6 weeks later, using the same questionnaire. A total of 180 students selected by systematic sampling from each of the two randomly selected schools in Item, a rural community in south-east Nigeria participated in the programme. While all the respondents have heard of reproductive health and could identify at least one of its components, their knowledge of it prior to the health education were defective and were obtained mainly from peers and the mass media. Such information was incomplete and often coloured with cultural and religious bias. However, there was a significant (p < 0.05) gain in correct knowledge following the health education. The students in the study group showed a positive and permissive attitude towards reproductive health education and there was a drop in risky sexual behaviour following the intervention. Pre-marital sex (94.3%), pregnancy prevention and abortion (88.5%) and sexually transmitted infections (82.8%) were common reproductive health problems raised by the students. Reproductive health education as part of the school curriculum will provide an effective means of improving knowledge and reducing reproductive health problems among adolescents in developing countries.