Middle ear infections, known as acute otitis media (AOM), are the most common childhood illness in the US where antibiotics are routinely prescribed. According to a new study published in JAMA, using antibiotics to treat newly diagnosed acute ear infections among children is modestly more effective than no treatment, but causes adverse effects.
US researchers, requested by the American Academy of Pediatrics, to update practice guidelines for treating children's ear infections, reviewed 125 published previous on the effect of antibiotics and found that 80% of children with ear infections would recover within about 3 days without antibiotics. If all of the children were treated with antibiotics, an additional 12 would improve in 3 days, but 5 to 10% of the children would develop diarrhea.
They found no evidence that higher- priced antibiotics work better in general than generic ones and there is a wide variation in diagnosis and management of AOM, they suggested that using an otoscope may help improve the accuracy of diagnosis.
The authors concluded that doctors need to weigh the risks and benefits "before prescribing immediate antibiotics for uncomplicated AOM" and further research is needed.
Source: Diagnosis, Microbial Epidemiology, and Antibiotic Treatment of Acute Otitis Media in Children - A Systematic Review. JAMA. 2010;304(19):2161-2169. (f/t via Athens)
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