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To the Editor.—In "Treatment of Acute Otitis Media in Children" in the August Journal (114:123, 1967), Dr. Stickler and his co-workers stated that 15.5% of the patients with otitis media in his study had a history of allergic rhinitis or hay fever. Asthmatic bronchitis was found in 1%, asthma in 1%, and atopic dermatitis in 0.6%.
From this study it is inferred that, unlike previous investigations, the incidence of allergy in children with otitis media is probably no greater than that of the general pediatric population. The error made in this conclusion is that they were dealing with a group of children with acute otitis media. Allergists such as Dr. John P. McGovern have stressed the fact that there is an increased incidence in children with persistent or recurrent otitis media, and in catarrhal otitis media. It would be interesting to find out how many of the 15