Antibiotics for middle ear infections
SMH, By Thomas Maugh
THE consensus on whether to give antibiotics to young children with ear infections has been swinging from one extreme to the other as conflicting evidence has pushed doctors first towards administering drugs, then towards a hands-off approach.
Two new trials reported on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine are nudging the pendulum back towards treatment, especially for the youngest children.
They show that the use of antibiotics in infants and toddlers under the age of two is only modestly effective and reduces the duration of symptoms by only a small amount, but it prevents relapses and progression.
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