of all ‘wrong uses’: when an agent (antibiotic) is used to treat something it cannot control, for example a virus.
A report in the British Medical Journal on research done at Southampton University indicated that when antibiotics are given to treat a sore throat (which could be of viral or bacterial origin) it made no difference whatever to the time it took for the individual to recover.
It is common practice for doctors to issue prescriptions, often in submission to demands by patients, for problems such as this. Undoubtedly, the degree of such inappropriate antibiotic use has added to the superbug phenomenon.9
Another study conducted in Holland involved over 200 patients with inflamed sinuses, confirmed by x-ray, in which half the patients were given antibiotics and the other half a dummy pill. There was no difference whatever in the speed of recovery, or in the number of subsequent relapses as confirmed when these patients were contacted a year later on.
Otitis media and Antibiotics
The way Otitis media (infection of the middle ear) has been and is being treated and mistreated using antibiotics gives us a perfect example of the problems we face.
Here we see a condition which is widespread, almost always bacterial in origin, almost always self-limiting (that is, gets better on its own), and almost always attracts antibiotic treatment – as a result of which resistant strains of bacteria have developed. Yet this obviously ‘wrong’ treatment continues to be suggested in most cases by most doctors and many specialists.
Consider what is now known (or what should now be known) about antibiotic treatment for Otitis media, which affects tens of thousands of children each year.
If your child has otitis it is very likely that antibiotics will be prescribed for a course which could run for between 3 and 10 days, depending upon what the doctor believes and has read of current research. As we will see, no antibiotics at all is usually the best choice, and if any are given 3 days is as good as 10. Along with the antibiotics, decongestant and painkilling medication will also usually be prescribed.
In the normal course of events, relief from the pain of the ear infection will be noticed by the distressed child within a matter of hours. And the grateful parent is likely to think – ‘how wonderful, how good that the pain and distress is easing, bless the antibiotics’ … and yet …
As for back as the early 1970s doctors at the University of Copenhagen were recognizing that the repeated use of antibiotics to treat children’s ear infections led to an increased likelihood of:
They decided that such problems should be treated in other ways.10
They claimed, after much research that, ‘88 per cent of patients [with otitis] never need antibiotics.’ They had found that the frequency of recurrence of otitis media in the many children with otitis whom they were treating and who were not receiving antibiotics was low compared with those who were receiving antibiotics, who commonly had another ear infection within a month or so of the end of their course of antibiotics.
More recent research has validated the Danish viewpoint, with serious doubts being raised as to the usefulness (and wisdom) of antibiotic care of otitis.
These doubts have been regularly expressed in major medical journals such as the British Medical Journal, the Lancet and the Journal of the American Medical Association, where we might expect some notice would have been taken by those responsible for the health of our children.11,12
The American researchers stated, ‘Recurrence rates were significantly higher in the antibiotic treated group [of children] than in the placebo group [those receiving dummy medicines].’ In fact, the children receiving antibiotics were between 200 and 600 percent more likely to have recurrence of the ear infection compared with children receiving no antibiotic treatment at all – whose own immune systems were dealing with the infections.
In 1981 a study was performed involving over 170 children with otitis. All the patients were given the usual painkilling and decongestant medicines; some were then also prescribed antibiotics, others also had both antibiotics and surgery (myringotomy – where the ear drum is punctured to release fluids which are pressing on it), while others had this form of surgery but were not prescribed antibiotics.
THE RESULTS?
There was no difference at all between any of the groups of children as far as
There was no difference at all whether antibiotics were given or not!
The same researchers looked at the problem again in 1985, this time involving nearly 5,000 children with otitis.13
This time they found that 90 percent of the children recovered, without any problems, without antibiotics, only having painkillers and decongestants to ease the symptoms while they recovered on their own.
So we see that as long ago as the late seventies and early eighties reputable scientific evidence existed showing that children who had antibiotics for middle ear infections usually did not benefit from them and were more likely to get another infection soon, compared with children not given antibiotics.
SUMMARY
