Adaptive Immunity in the Middle Ear Mucosa with Chronic Otitis Media

The middle ear is frequently invaded by the upper respiratory commensals. The growth of the commensals in the middle ear frequently causes infectious events. Some of these infectious events occur in children repeatedly when the middle ear is in a state of immune tolerance, a condition in which T lymphocytes are unable to kill invading microorganisms, bacterial or viral. This review article gives you some thoughts about how the middle ear immunity is compromised and predisposed to the upper respiratory infectious agents and commensals.