Ear Infections

Antibiotics Not Needed for Ear Infections

2007-01-12T22:48:00.001-08:00

Antibiotics Not Needed for Ear Infections

When a child gets an ear infection, most of the time doctors prescribe antibiotics, but a new study suggests the drugs aren't needed at all. A study published in the journal of the American Medical Association asked parents to use a wait-and-see approach.

Dr. Max April, Lenox Hill Hospital: "They actually gave the parents a prescription and told them to hold on to it for 48 hours, and if the child's getting worse, fill the prescription. 38% of the people did fill the prescription, 62% did not."

Doctors say most of the children got better on their own. Experts say the study is significant because it's important to cut down on the number of antibiotics being prescribed. Overuse can lead to treatment resistant infections, meaning antibiotics would no longer work.

Antibiotics Not Needed for Ear Infections

2007-01-12T22:48:00.000-08:00

Antibiotics Not Needed for Ear Infections

Most Kids' Ear Infections Can Heal Without Antibiotics

2006-12-18T18:07:00.000-08:00

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Most Kids' Ear Infections Can Heal Without Antibiotics

Most children with ear infections do not need antibiotics, but they get them anyway. Now, a new study suggests parents are often willing to delay treatment if they know their kids can get the drugs if they need them. Giving parents the option of delaying treatment meant far fewer kids ended up taking antibiotics -- with no significant increase in complications, researchers reported in the Sept. 13 issue of JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association. In the study, almost two-thirds of the antibiotic prescriptions written to parents urged to delay treatment never got filled. Meanwhile, roughly nine of 10 children whose parents were not given the special instruction to â€œwait-and-see" ended up taking antibiotics. 15 Million Ear Infection Prescriptions Ear infections are the most common reason for antibiotic use among U.S.

Some Columbia city leaders pushing for smoking ban

2006-12-06T01:16:00.000-08:00

Some Columbia city leaders pushing for smoking ban

(Columbia) September 27, 2006 - Some Columbia city leaders are pushing for a ban on smoking in all public buildings, including bars and restaurants. That proposal was the focus of a public hearing City Council held Wednesday.

Willie Durkin has spent more than two decades running bars. He knows what customers want. And he says, when they come to the Five Points bar that bears his name, they want to smoke. "I can understand the restaurant issue. Cigarettes and food don't necessarily go together. But alcohol and cigarettes truly do."

Wednesday Durkin took that argument to City Council members. "Do we close down the beaches, golf courses and tanning salons because skin cancer's on the rise? Do we ban chicken wings because heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in South Carolina?"

One speaker suggested Columbia is sort of like Russia for even considering a smoking ban.

Study: Smoking affects more Latino renters

2006-11-20T18:45:00.000-08:00

Study: Smoking affects more Latino renters

WHITTIER - Don't blow smoke around David Mendez or his daughters: He'll tell you exactly how he feels about it.

"It's nasty," said Mendez, 39, who feels so strongly about smoking that he forbids his wife, Christine, from lighting up inside their Whittier apartment.

He is not alone. Like Mendez,

95 percent of Latinos who live in apartments prohibit smoking in their homes, according to the American Lung Association. But while they abhor smoke around their families, Latinos are among the most impacted by the effects of cigarettes, according to a new study.

Because a vast majority of Latinos live in apartments - only 42 percent of the state's Latinos own homes, the second-lowest homeownership rate in the nation - Latinos suffer inordinately from the effects of secondhand smoke drifting into their units from other apartments, the study showed.

Antibiotic delay urged for ear infections

2006-11-10T21:24:00.000-08:00

Antibiotic delay urged for ear infections

CHICAGO - Telling parents to wait 48 hours before filling a prescription for antibiotics so they can see if their child's ear infection clears up on its own can help curb overuse of the drugs, researchers said Tuesday.

U.S. doctors write 15 million antibiotic prescriptions a year for children's ear infections, though there is increasing evidence the drugs may not be necessary. Excessive antibiotic use could lead to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and cause drug reactions such as vomiting and diarrhea.

By taking a "wait-and-see" approach where the parent is given a prescription but told to wait 48 hours to fill it, researchers at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, found fewer prescriptions were filled.

Out of 238 patients aged 6 months to 12 years brought to a hospital emergency room complaining of ear infections, two-thirds of the parents who were told to wait ultimately did not fill their prescriptions.

Treating Ear Infections

2006-10-04T22:01:00.000-07:00

Treating Ear Infections

According to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers from the Yale University School of Medicine divided nearly 300 children with ear infections into two groups.

About half received painkillers and antibiotics. The others got painkillers and a prescription for antibiotics but this group was told to wait and see how their child did before filling it. Without antibiotics, most ear infections get better on their own. Only about a third of parents who took the wait-and-see approach, eventually filled their prescriptions, compared to 87 percent of those in the traditional treatment group. The researchers say with the growing problem of resistance to antibiotics that it is time to rethink how often we turn to medicine. That's a look at Your Health,
Nancy Gay, Central Florida News 13.