In reply
Antibiotic treatment of AOM in older children is controversial. Most uncomplicated cases of AOM resolve spontaneously without apparent suppurative complication. Amoxicillin or ampicillin confers a limited therapeutic benefit. There is no evidence to support any particular antibiotic regimen as more effective at relieving symptoms.1
Immediate prescription of antibiotics for AOM reduced the duration of illness but the benefit occurred mainly after the first 24 hours, when symptoms were already resolving.2 A wait-and-see approach is feasible and acceptable to most parents and results in a 76% reduction in the use of antibiotics prescriptions.2