They were once as common a childhood complaint as grazed shins, runny noses and geography lessons. Now, however, ear infections appear to be in decline, with the number treated by GPs having halved in ten years.
The drop in cases is a happy side-effect of the fight against meningitis, researchers believe.
About one in four children is thought to develop an ear infection, or otitis media, before the age of ten.
A study by Public Health England of more than half a million children under ten has found that ear infection rates fell from 136 cases per thousand in 2002 to 66 cases per thousand in 2012.
Ten years ago babies started being vaccinated against meningitis, septicaemia and pneumonia. Some of the bacteria that cause these diseases are also responsible for many cases of otitis media, and the study, published last year in Vaccine, found that there was a 22 per cent drop in cases the year after the jab was introduced.
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When the vaccine was expanded to cover more strains in 2010, there was an 18 per cent fall in ear infections.
Shamez Ladhani, a consultant at the immunisation department of Public Health England, and one of the authors of the study, said: “It’s encouraging that we have also found a reduction in noninvasive disease such as pneumonia and otitis media as a result of this vaccination programme.”
Growing fears of overusing antibiotics could also have contributed to the decline, by encouraging parents to keep children at home and wait for infections to clear up, rather than going to see a doctor.