A new way to treat ear infections without medication

(New York-WABC, September 12, 2006) (WABC) -- Ear infections are one of the most common reasons kids go to the doctor. But now, there are new questions about the best way to treat them.

Seven's On Call with Dr. Jay Adlersberg.

A crying child with an earache makes both parents and doctors anxious to do something fast, and many doctors prescribe antibiotics. But overusing antibiotics can lead to germs that become resistant to them, and a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association says the drugs may not be needed.

Ear infections are very common in young kids. To treat the infections, many doctors prescribe antibiotics. But the new study shows the benefits of a wait-and-see approach letting parents wait two days until they get better and then get an antibiotic prescription.

"One half of the children in our study received a wait-and-see prescription and the other half received a prescription and the parents were told to fill immediately. Both groups were given both Ibruprofen and ear drops for the pain," Dr. David Spiro said.

The kids in this study were between six months and 12-years-old. The kids in the wait-and-see approach were more likely to have pain and fever than those who got antibiotics, but the end result in both groups followed the same course.

Roughly two thirds of the patients in the wait-and-see group did not fill the prescription and that group recovered at the same rate as children who received instructions to fill the antibiotic prescription. In other words, many of the children with ear infections got better without antibiotics.

"Parents should be empowered to make a decision in 48 hours on whether to fill or not to fill an antibiotic prescription. And this strategy can significantly reduce antibiotic use in the United States," Spiro added.

Pediatricians are often trained to give antibiotics for ear infections and parents may expect a prescription. But because of the risks of antibiotic side effects, the authors of the study hope their report will help change this practice.

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