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Avoiding Antibiotics
New Guidelines for Ear Infections
By Kelly Burgess
Currently, the problem with prescribing antibiotics for ear infections, according to Dr. Rosenfeld, is that diagnosing an ear infection often isn't cut and dried. "To make a diagnosis of what is called an ear infection, the first thing you have to have is a space behind the ear filled with fluid, mucus, pus, bacteria, etc.," he says. "Second, there must be signs and symptoms that are consistent with infection such as fever, ear pain, rubbing, poking or pulling. With those two components there's no doubt that an ear infection is the problem and treatment can proceed from there."
However, he says, sometimes, while the signs and symptoms are there, the doctor never actually sees physical evidence of true otitis media. This is not because of incompetence or a lack of knowledge, but merely because it's not always easy to see behind the eardrum, and when a small child s in distress, it's often easier to just assume an ear infection and prescribe the antibiotic.
Dr. Rosenfeld also acknowledges that it's going to be difficult to convince some parents, like Young, that there is a better way to treat her child's discomfort. Doing so, he says, requires education therapy to replace the antibiotic therapy. "One thing doctors need to be able to do is to provide parents with some sort of education and materials to show this isn't just some crazy thing they thought up," he says. "It's important for them to understand that the main reason this is being done is because there are terrible problems associated with the overuse of antibiotics."
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