What causes hearing problems?
There are two types of hearing loss — congenital (meaning the child was born with it) and acquired (meaning he lost hearing sometime after birth). About three to four in 1,000 children are born with significant hearing impairment. Sometimes the inability to hear is genetic. Other times the child’s hearing was damaged when his mother had a viral infection, such as German measles (rubella), during pregnancy. Other children are born deaf because of low birth weight, premature birth, or an infection such as toxoplasmosis or herpes. In some cases, there’s no explanation. After birth, a child may suffer hearing loss when the nerves in his inner ear are damaged by an injury, a tumor, or an infection such as chicken pox, influenza, meningitis, or mononucleosis. Recurrent ear infections can lead to hearing loss as well. During these infections, a child’s middle ear can fill with fluid that becomes infected. The fluid, which often remains in the ear for weeks after the infection is gone, can cau
