Hey all!  Ugh, I’m suffering from a slight cold – mostly just a sore throat (my least favorite symptom by far) and slightly more tired than usual.  It could be worse, right?

Without further ado, here’s the last section of my series on acute otitis media (don’t forget to read Part V first!).

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!  Throw me an e-mail at cate@getpharmacyadvice.com or comment on this article and we can keep this discussion going. 

And if you haven’t already done so, visit http://www.getpharmacyadvice.com/freegift.html to get our free video course – you’ll discover 90 ways to save money on your medications.  Enjoy!