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Conclusion: Middle ear pressure was affected by respiratory illness and season; picornavirus (without illness) or pathogenic bacteria in the nasopharynx had no or minor effect., Objective: To examine the effect of respiratory illness, season, and nasopharyngeal microbial flora on middle ear pressure., Subjects and Methods: Thirteen children were followed longitudinally with daily recording of respiratory symptoms, weekly tympanometry, and weekly testing of nasal aspirate/washes for Streptococcus pneumoniae, Hemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis by culture and for picornavirus by RT-PCR., Results: Abnormal middle ear pressure was present at 47% of 473 weekly visits by 11 preschool age (

Conclusion: Contrast dye in the nasopharynx reaches the middle ear during swallowing and yawning in normal adults. This suggests that displacement of bacteria in nasopharyngeal secretion to the middle ear may occur frequently during sleep., Objective: The middle ear is sterile under normal conditions. The purpose of this study was to examine by means of CT whether radiopaque contrast dye in the nasopharynx would reflux into the middle ear of normal adults during swallowing and/or yawning., Material and Methods: Six normal adult volunteers were studied. Contrast dye was kept at the orifices of the Eustachian tube during swallowing and/or yawning by placing volunteers in either a head-down or lateral decubitus position. Reflux was determined by the presence of contrast dye in the middle ear on CT scanning of the temporal bone., Results: Two of the three volunteers in each group (four out of six in total) had contrast material detected in one or both middle ear cavities.

As our knowledge of the histopathology of common colds is very limited, we have undertaken a blind quantitative examination by scanning electron microscopy and light microscopy of 56 nasal biopsies, taken from 29 volunteers with naturally acquired colds. In agreement with earlier reports we found evidence of sloughing of epithelial cells, but in contrast to in vitro experiments, this did not result in a destruction of the epithelial lining, which by and large remained continuous, with structurally normal cell borders. There was a significant increase in the number of neutrophils, both in epithelium and in lamina propria, already on the 2nd day of the disease, and the hypothesis is advanced that the virus infection itself is the cause of the local neutrophilia. The only other abnormality demonstrated was an increased number of extracellular erythrocytes in the acute stage. The histological picture was not suggestive of an involvement of epithelial mast cells in the inflammation.

It was the purpose of this study to examine whether the number of bacteria in the nose and nasopharynx changes during a common cold. Samples for bacteriological culture were taken from the nasal cavity of 29 and from the nasopharynx of 26 adult patients with naturally acquired colds. The bacteriological samples were taken on days 2, 4, 8 16, 32 and 64 after the first nasal symptoms. The results showed that there were few pathogenic bacteria in the nasal cavity and nasopharynx. There was no tendency to an increase in the number of positive cultures during the cold, although most patients had macroscopically purulent discharge on days 3-5. In conclusion, the study indicates that during an uncomplicated common cold, a bacterial infection is not responsible for the occurrence of purulent nasal discharge which may be a direct consequence of the viral infection.

This review deals mainly with lymphocyte subsets in the human nasal mucosa, and with the common cold. Lymphocytes have recently been characterized in biopsy specimens by an immuno-histochemical method (the avidin-biotin, monoclonal antibody peroxidase technique). In summary, the overall T:B cell ratio was 3:1 and that of T helper cells to T suppressor was 2.5:1; topographical differences within the nasal mucosa were identified. Non-specific defence systems, such as interferon, provide some protection against rhinovirus infection, but most important is the presence of specific antibodies against a given antigenic type of virus. Recent results have suggested that a rhinovirus infection does not cause a marked destruction of the epithelial lining, that it is spotty in the nasal mucosa, and that it is most prominent in the nasopharynx. Increased knowledge about the site of infection and how symptoms are produced is essential for a rational approach to the development of anti-viral therapy.