Antibiotics May Not Work Against Acute Sinusitis
May 17, 2001
Acute sinusitis is the inflammation of the membranes lining the sinuses. Almost 20 million Americans have experienced acute sinusitis, and it is one of the most common ailments in children. Many children are treated with antibiotics for acute sinusitis; however, most acute sinusitis infections are caused by viruses. This means that prescribing antibiotics to treat the viral ailment may be useless.
A new study confirms that most antibiotics prescribed for children with acute sinusitis do not work. The April issue of Pediatrics published the results of a study involving 161 children who experienced up to four weeks of symptoms and had been diagnosed with acute sinusitis. Half of the group was given one of two forms of common penicillin-type amoxicillin drugs and the other half was given placebos. After fourteen days, 80% of the children had improved health, regardless of which group they were in at the beginning of the study. Therefore, the antibiotics did not appear to aid children in the cessation of symptoms any more than the placebos. "Antimicrobial treatment offered no benefit in overall symptom resolution, duration of symptoms, recovery to usual functional status, days missed from school or child care, or relapse and recurrence of sinus problems," commented researchers from the University of Washington School of Medicine. These results mirrored those published earlier this year by the American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidelines for child treatment of acute sinusitis in 1998 and noted that sinus infections caused by viruses were on the rise. The guidelines still recommend treating children with amoxicillin or other drugs in cases where the child has been sick for more than ten to fourteen days.
-- Article Courtesy of InjuryBoard.com
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