Study: Leave Ear Infections Alone

(CBS)  More than 75 percent of kids before the age of 5 have an ear infection, according to the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Ear infections have routinely been treated with antibiotics, but now, new research suggests the best medicine may be no medicine at all.

CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton said on "The Early Show" there's substantial evidence suggesting that many children with ear infections will get better without antibiotics and with no ill effects.

"It requires a lot of patience on the part of both the doctor and the parents to let it run its course. And most ear infections are caused by viruses, which don't get treated with antibiotics," she said. "But most will get better on their own."

Ashton said the American Academy of Pediatrics is about to update its guidelines, but essentially the current guidelines say that unless the child is very young or very sick, a doctor should employ "watchful waiting" -- monitoring the child's health. As a backup, the doctor might prescribe a safety net antibiotic prescription or SNAP to be filled only if the child has not improved within 48 to 72 hours. A recent study in the British Medical Journal has shown that treating with antibiotics can actually increase the chances of relapse and contrary to popular wisdom; about 80 percent of infections clear up without antibiotics.

However, Ashton said some children should still get antibiotics.

The current guidelines include children who:
• Are under age 2
• Appear seriously ill with fever of 102F or higher
• Have fluid dripping from the ears
• Have a double ear infection.

Ashton added there are some side effects to antibiotics use in kids. In about 10 to 20 percent of children, Ashton said, antibiotics can cause upset stomach, vomiting, diarrhea. Less frequently, they can cause rashes. The most serious side effect, she said, is antibiotic resistance.

"This will make the next bug tougher to treat," she said. "The next time your doctor goes to prescribe amoxicillin, the most commonly used for kids, it might not work."

According to new research -- despite all the science-based evidence -- doctors still prescribe antibiotics to kids they suspect with ear infections 84 percent of the time. However, Ashton said doctors and parents are slowly coming around to the fact that antibiotics may not be the best medicine.

"Pediatricians are now focusing on pain relief," Ashton said. "Children screaming in pain will not get relief from an antibiotic in the first 24 hours. They should be given ibuprofen (Advil) or acetaminophen (Tylenol), and sometimes prescription ear drops can ease the pain."

[warsux]

this administration's communist policies cause ear infections in children! Obama is evil!

[ReginaFilangee]

I agree that doctors and parents need to lay off the antibiotics for otitis. Most ear "infections" are actually ALLERGIC otitis. Bacterial overgrowth is merely a secondary occurrence, which only rarely requires specific antibiotic treatment. The bacteria is NOT the CAUSE of the problem...it is the result. Figure out and eliminate the offending allergen, and the repeated ear "infections" (and the pain associated with them) magically go away....for good. Sadly, this diagnosis is all too frequently missed. It's a matter of pediatricians who don't see the forest for all the trees. (Haven't they taken note of the fact that this problem is an issue in only the cultures/societies which feed their children highly processed, grain/corn-based diets.....and barely an issue at all in societies where proper nutrition of children occurs???)

[cruachan3]

THIS IS RIDICULOUS! Has anyone conducting this study ever heard of a cholesteatoma? These tumors are formed from multiple and untreated ear infections! Believe me--I know! I had two--I've lost my hearing bones on both sides to these invasive tumors...they ate my internal hearing bones, half my jaws & teeth & sinus cavities! DO NOT! I repeat DO NOT let your children's ear infections go untreated!

[north1949]

BS. I had six children. All had ear infections at one time or other in their infancy and toddler-hood. I had a doctor who basically said that most ear infections were viral, and that antibiotics would make things worse; she prescribed hot packs and TLC. None of my kids develeped choles---whatchamacallit. All of them survived with no hearing loss, etc. None of them received antibiotics, and none of them suffered for it. It meant that there was no magic bullet; that I actually had to give some "mommycare" to my children rather than rely on an instant fix. You Yanks are such sissies!!

[meckstroth]

I agree with this. I was not confident enough as a parent to take my child to the chiropractor in the early 1980's. The health insurance would not help with the cost of treatment of a chiropractor. We endured many ear infections, burst eardrums, seven sets of tubes, adenoid & tonsil removal, almost had surgery for ear drum repair, a great number of repeated illnesses, and an unbelievable number of antibiotics through infancy and into the very early twenties. Hind sight is always 20/20. I am hoping new parents will take heed to this information. Read the article very closely.

[Zann-Zel]

Is it worth taking a chance on them losing their hearing if that eardrum bursts????

[amerilatino]

Why do I get the nauseating feeling that the gems who put out these studies come out of the same mills as the geniuses who are managing fiscal policy from Washington and the CEOs of failing American corporations?

[recon28romeo5]

Yeah, feed 'em the typical under-doses of antibiotic and watch the strains that aren't killed mutate into resistant strains. Brilliant!!!

Are you suggesting that the docs/CEO's you speak of, et.al., are a pack of flaming liberals, too??

[erasmus111]

My neice used to get ear infections all the time. Her mother would ignore them. Her eardrum burst several times. There may be some infections that may go away, but I would still be taking my kid to the doctor and having him/her decide.

I've heard of a couple of home remedies. One is pouring hydrogen peroxide in the infected ear, and the other is to put a clove of garlic in the ear.

[consciousnes]

That is why my brother died at the age of 4 of spinal meningitis, because an ear infection was left alone and it migrated.
That is why that if I even started to have an ear ach I was at the doctor's office, no matter what the cost.