doc says DS has "slight" ear infection. would you give antibiotics?

[Anonymous]

I'm the PP in favor of giving the antiboitics...I was not meaning to scare OP. Just to inform. In my experience, symptoms with ear infections CAN worsen and sometimes quickly. Again, this is based on 2 people's numberous experiences: myself and my son. As I said, wait and see could be okay, I just wanted to let OP what to watch for since when my son's ear infection flared up at night, I was caught off-guard. I liked an earlier poster's advice about fulfilling the prescription and then wait and see - that might make the most sense if she is having doubts and the symptoms really are not severe yet.

But for folks to say that ear infections are often viruses and usually can clear up with antiboitics, that's just wrong. OP should not base their decision on that erroneous info.

[Anonymous]

Actually, many minor bacterial ear infections do clear up without antibiotics. Overuse of antibiotics for ear infections is a major public health problem. But I'd fill the rx and have the medication on hand, then wait and see what happens.

[Anonymous]

Here is an interesting article on the subject from the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/31/health/31chil.html
And remember, anecdotes do not equal data!