Antibiotics

When your child has an ear infection, do you insist on antibiotics because…

• your child can’t go back to school unless she is on antibiotics?
• you think that any infection with a fever requires an antibiotic?
• you expect antibiotics, because you’ve gotten them in the past?
• you think you’re protecting your child from more frightening complications such as pneumonia or meningitis?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you’re half of the reason that overuse of antibiotics in children is an important cause of increasing drug resistance. The other half is your doctor. Doctors give more antibiotics for children’s inner or middle ear infections (known as acute otitis media) than for any other ailment.

Doctors often prescribe unnecessary antibiotics, because they’re so eager to please parents. And doctors tend to grossly overdiagnose ear infections.

So what can the parents do?

Be informed. Tell your pediatrician that you are willing to not use antibiotics if she thinks they’re not necessary.

Ask questions about the infection. For example, does the fluid in your child’s ear represent a new infection or has it been there for a while? If there is just fluid in the ear, it will be quite clear that it should not be treated unless it’s been present for 3 months.

If your child does need to take antibiotic, make sure you understand the correct dose and duration of treatment and administer it as directed. Ask your pediatrician about new recommendations for amoxicillin, for instance: that it be taken in higher doses, less frequently, and for a shorter period of time.

Practice an ounce of prevention: Consider vaccines when appropriate, such as the new pneumococcal vaccine for the bacteria that cause meningitis and pneumonia. Keep sick children home to prevent spreading disease, and remind your children to wash their hands as often as possible.