In this file photo, Dr. Ran D. Goldman examines the ears of a young patient in the emergency room at Sick Kids hospital.
Antibiotics curbed for kids' ears
September 15, 2009
The Canadian Press
The practice of routinely prescribing antibiotics to kids suffering from an ear infection is coming to a formal end.
The Canadian Paediatric Society today instructed doctors to watch and wait for 48 hours before using antibiotics to treat most ear infections in healthy children over six months of age.
About 95 per cent of the time, an acetaminophen like Tylenol alone works just as well to treat the kind of ear infection that preschoolers with a cold are prone to, said specialist Dr. Joan Robinson in a statement.
She said the main reason for the treatment change is concern about increasing resistance to antibiotics by over-prescribing them.