April 11th, 2022
1) Otitis Media or a common ear infection and common childhood pneumonia in children greater than 2 years old should be treated with 5 days of antibiotics based on new data and guidelines. (Williams et. al. 2022)
This has two major downstream benefits. First, the reduced exposure to antibiotics reduces antibiotic resistance in bacteria which is becoming a big problem. Second, the reduced antibiotic exposure helps to reduce damage to the intestinal microbiome that is a known antecedent risk factor for autoimmunity and chronic diseases of inflamm"aging". I highly recommend that everyone adhere to these newer and, in my mind, better guidelines. Less is more folks.
2)Placing ear tympanic membrane ventilation tubes is not necessary if your child is not found to have persistent effusions behind the tympanic membrane when visiting the ENT specialist. This is true even in a child with recurrent ear infections. Dr. M
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