(28c) Novel Treatment of Streptococcus Pneumoniae and Nontypeable Haemophilus Influenzae-Coinfected Otitis Media

Otitis media (OM) is the main reason for pediatric antibiotic prescriptions. It is clear that most otitis media cases involve simultaneous infection with multiple agents. Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP) and nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) are two common OM pathogens. The interaction between them may play an important role in the pathogenesis of polymicrobial infections. Although there are many studies about treating single bacteria induced OM, there are few research discuss about the treatment of coinfection in OM. Herein, we study the behaviors of each pathogen during the coinfection and also research how coinfection would impact biofilm formation in vitro and in vivo. To address the challenges of treating coinfected OM, we design a novel treatment containing vanadium pentoxide nanowires, which would convert the product from SP (i.e., H2O2) to an antiseptic (i.e., HOBr) in the presence of KBr to inhibit the coinfection effectively.