Middle ear infections: Prescribe antibiotics or not?

More than half of all children experience at least one episode of otitis media (middle ear infection) yet whether to "watch and wait" or prescribe antibiotic treatment remains an ongoing debate.

Le Saux and colleagues report on a randomized controlled trial in which 512 children aged 6 months to 5 years in whom a new episode of acute otitis media was diagnosed received either amoxicillin or placebo.

The authors report a higher rate of cure after 14 days in the group receiving amoxicillin. However, there was no statistical difference in the number of adverse events or in recurrence rates between the 2 groups.

p. 335 A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled noninferiority trial of amoxicillin for clinically diagnosed otitis media in children 6 months to 5 years of age

-- N. LeSaux

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