Do antibiotics help to cure earache?
Acute Otitis Media (AOM – a middle ear infection) is common in childhood. A child with AOM is distressed, has pain and is unhappy and the parents will be concerned and eager for something to be done. Many expect a prescription for antibiotics if they go their GP and the GP may feel under pressure and find it easier to write the prescription rather than explain why one is not needed. Much has been written about the effectiveness of antibiotics in the treatment of AOM. Meta-analyses (statistical anaylses that combine results of several studies to give an overall estimate) have shown that antibiotics have not been proved to be beneficial or that the benefit is modest. (See the SMAC report for more details) In addition it is difficult to predict which child will benefit from antibiotics.
