A little info on the most common treatment options for middle ear infections: If antibiotics are prescribed, amoxicillin is most often the drug of choice.
Sounds old school, right? In reality, amoxicillin is usually the best choice because it is safe, effective, and inexpensive.
As you may know, amoxicillin is in the same class of antibiotics as penicillin, and since some children are allergic to penicillin, a different antibiotic may need to be used.
Fortunately, there are other options out there! If the allergy to penicillin is severe (a previous reaction led to hives or anaphylaxis), an antibiotic called Zithromax (azithromycin) is usually prescribed instead; children with less severe reactions would most likely be prescribed a medicine called Omnicef (cefdinir).
Antibiotic therapy should typically be used for 10 days in children less than 2 years old.
Children older than 2 years can fair well with a duration of treatment of 5 to 7 days so long as they do not have a history of recurrent ear infections.
Of course, the length of therapy may depend on the choice of antibiotic used! Here's some good news - all of the antibiotics used to treat acute otitis media are quite safe.
They all have similar side effects such as diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and rash.
Amoxicillin has the greatest tendency to lead to diarrhea and stomach upset, especially because higher doses are used to get to the bacteria in the middle ear.
On the other hand, Zithromax will be the least likely to cause stomach or intestinal irritation.
Yay, some more good news - signs and symptoms of the middle ear infection should go away within 24 to 72 hours of starting antibiotic therapy.
That's pretty fast, right? If there is no improvement in your child's symptoms by 48 to 72 hours, you can assume the treatment has failed or there is a different problem other than AOM on your hands.
At this point, you should contact your child's physician so they can reassess the situation or prescribe a different antibiotic.
That just about wraps up my discussion on acute otitis media! Try not to worry, as I mentioned before, middle ear infections are very common among young children.
With your watchful eye on them and some extra cuddles, they should be better in no time.
Hip-hip-hooray, we made it through!