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Should antibiotics be prescribed for acute otitis media?
Author(s) -
Anwar Abbas A.,
Lalwani Anil K.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1002/lary.22432
Subject(s) - acute otitis media , antibiotics , medicine , otitis , intensive care medicine , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , surgery
BACKGROUND Acute otitis media (AOM) accounts for nearly 15 million antibiotic prescriptions every year and has become the most commonly cited reason for antimicrobial therapy among children in the United States. With the continuing rise of healthcare costs and the emergence of multi–drug-resistant bacteria, overuse of antibiotics has become a major public health concern worldwide. As a result, experts have called for the judicious use of antimicrobials in the treatment of AOM. However, despite years of clinical experience with the disease, an optimal treatment strategy is still unclear, as the clinical decision to treat or not to treat children with AOM remains controversial.