Записи с меткой: ear infections

There may be no common pain worse than an earache—for babies, kids and parents alike. Even a mild one can be crippling, and the misery can usually be traced to acute otitis media, a.k.a. the dreaded ear infection.

Ear infections occur in the middle ear region behind the eardrum, when the Eustachian tube that connects the throat to this space swells and prevents air from entering the middle ear. The resulting suction can pull in fluid instead. If this fluid becomes infected, an earache isn’t far behind.

Once upon a time, that meant antibiotics, but experts say that only one in eight childre...

Young children with ear infections don’t necessarily need antibiotic treatment right away. In fact, they may not need the medication at all, according to new guidelines from an influential group of doctors.

Children ages 6 months to 2 years with an infection in one ear who don’t have a high fever, severe pain or other complications can be watched for 48 hours without antibiotic treatment to see if the infection gets worse, the guidelines say. The same watching period applies to older children with amild infection in one or both ears.

The new guidelines, from the American Academy of P...