Is poor air quality giving your child ear infections? Aaron Bernstein, MD, MPH is a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital Boston and faculty member at Harvard Medical School’s Center for Health and the Global Environment. As parents, many of you are well familiar with ear infections. They may start with mild discomfort and a little tugging on the ear but can quickly blossom into severe ear pain for your child and sleepless nights for everyone in the house.
In addition to all the inflammation, sleep loss and mounting crankiness, ear infections account for more pediatrician visits and antibiotic prescriptions than any other condition. All told, the United States spends about $5 billion each year diagnosing and treating ear infections. So although ear infections may each be considered a re...