Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Pharmacy - Department of Microbiology and Immunology

M. catarrhalis is human-restricted, gram negative diplococci. During the last 30 years, the acceptance of the idea that this bacterium being a true respiratory tract pathogen has increased; it accounts for nearly 20% of the acute otitis media cases in children. In this study, we have tried to investigate the association between the presence of certain M. catarrhalis virulence factors and the incidence of otitis media infections especially among Egyptian children. We have collected 81 nasal swabs from otitis media children and 37 nasal swabs from non-otitis media ones and identifying M. catarrhalis among them. The identification results showed that M. catarrhalis was present in 21 (26%) of the otitis media samples and 19 (51.5%) of the non-otitis media ones. Then investigating the presence of some of the genes encoding for some of the important virulence factors. The results showed that the gene encoding for OMP CD was significantly higher in the otitis media isolates than the non-otitis media ones. The rest of the virulence genes under study were generally higher in the otitis media isolates

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