Hearing Loss in Chronic Otitis Media Patients and Covid Vaccination - Is There a Relation?

Aviroop Saha Roy

Abstract: Introduction: Chronic otitis media (COM) is an inflammatory condition of the middle ear, characterised usually by chronic otorrhea (i.e., lasting > 6-12 weeks) through a perforation in the tympanic membrane. COM most commonly leads to some degree of conductive hearing loss. However, recurrent ear infections result in diffusion and absorption of toxins and macromolecules into the inner ear, and this can lead to sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Corona Virus-2019 (nCoV-19) is the cause of the recent ?COVID-19? pandemic. The outbreak emanated from Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The aim of this study is to evaluate if there is a positive correlation between the hearing loss in COM patients and Covid Vaccination. Methods: This is Cross sectional Observational study which included 200 patients who presented to ENT department: Bharati Hospital Pune, India. A detailed history of COM patients was taken, specifically asking for Covid Vaccination history. A pure tone audiogram of all patients was then obtained. All data was analysed identifying cases with disproportionate conductive, mixed or SNHL to look for statistical correlation between the hearing loss and Covid vaccination. Results: Of 78 cases without any H/O COVID-19 vaccination, 35 (44.9%) had conductive, 24 (30.8%) had mixed and 19 (24.4%) had sensorineural hearing loss. Of the total 122 cases with the H/O COVID-19 vaccination, 74 (60.7%) had conductive, 39 (32.0%) had mixed and 9 (7.4%) had sensorineural hearing loss. Of 31 cases who received one dose of COVID-19 vaccination, 19 (61.3%) had conductive, 9 (29.0%) had mixed and 3 (9.7%) had sensorineural hearing loss. Of 91 cases who received two doses dose of COVID-19 vaccination, 55 (60.4%) had conductive, 30 (33.0%) had mixed and 6 (6.6%) had sensorineural hearing loss. Conclusion: The conductive hearing loss was more common (60.7%) among the cases with the H/O COVID-19 vaccination as compared to group of cases without H/O COVID-19 vaccination. Significantly higher proportion of cases with the H/O COVID-19 vaccination had lower prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss (7.4%) compared to group of cases without the H/O COVID-19 vaccination. Mixed Hearing loss was somewhat equally observed between both the groups of vaccinated and unvaccinated patients (32.08% vs 30.8%).

Keywords: Chronic otitis media (COM), Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), Covid-19 pandemic, Covid vaccination

How to Cite?: Aviroop Saha Roy, "Hearing Loss in Chronic Otitis Media Patients and Covid Vaccination - Is There a Relation?", Volume 14 Issue 12, December 2025, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 1643-1648, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR251218205803, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR251218205803