Causes of childhood hearing loss

• Birth complications, including the presence of herpes, rubella

cytomegalovirus, toxoplasmosis or another serious infection, lack of
oxygen or the requirement of a blood transfusion for some reason.
• Premature birth. Babies that have a birth weight of less than 3 pounds or
that require certain life-sustaining drugs for respiration due to prematurity
are at risk for hearing loss.
• A nervous system or brain disorder.
• The use of ototoxic medication by the mother during pregnancy. Ototoxic
medications are not usually illicit substances - medications like various
antibiotics and NSAIDS can potentially cause damage to the auditory nerve
or other hearing structures of the fetus.
• The mother had an infection during pregnancy, including things like
toxoplasmosis, cytomegolavirus, herpes simplex or German measles.
• Maternal diabetes.
• Drug or alcohol abuse by the mother or smoking during pregnancy.

• Genetic factors that might cause congenital hearing loss include:

• Autosomal recessive hearing loss - This is the most common type of
genetic congenital hearing loss - autosomal recessive accounts for around
70 percent of all genetic hearing loss cases. What this means is that
neither parent has a hearing loss, but each parent carries a recessive gene
that gets passed to the child. Parents are usually surprised when their
child is born with this type of hearing loss because people typically aren't
even aware they have the recessive gene.
• Autosomal dominant hearing loss - This type of hearing loss accounts for
around 15 percent of genetic hearing losses, according to the American
Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). In autosomal dominant
hearing loss, one parent carrying a dominant gene for hearing loss passes
it to the offspring. This parent may or may not have hearing loss, but he or
she might have other symptoms or signs of a genetic syndrome.
• Genetic syndromes - These include Usher syndrome, Treacher Collins
syndrome, Waardenburg syndrome, Down syndrome, Crouzon syndrome
and Alport syndrome
• Acquired hearing loss
• Children can also be affected by acquired hearing loss, meaning it
occurs after birth. There are various causes of acquired hearing loss,
including:
• A perforated eardrum
• Otosclerosis or Meniere's diseases, which are progressive
• Infections like meningitis, measles, mumps or whooping cough
• Taking ototoxic medications
• A serious head injury
• Exposure to loud noise, causing noise-induced hearing loss
• Untreated or frequent otitis media (ear infections)
• Exposure to secondhand smoke