Sinusitis can cause a lot of misery for adults and children alike. As tempting as it may be to treat a sinus infection promptly with antibiotics, the American Academy of Pediatrics is telling doctors to hold off for awhile.
The experts analyzed the results of 17 randomized controlled trials and concluded that sinusitis sometimes clears up with antibiotic treatment. The new guidelines recommend that if the child is not running a fever or getting worse, pediatricians can wait several days before initiating antibiotics. That doesn’t hold, of course, if the child is quite ill.
The reason for this caution is that treatment can cause side effects, especially diarrhea and other gastrointestinal discomfort. The doctors are also concerned that overuse will lead to antibiotic resistance and make antibiotics ineffectual when we really need them. Pediatricians have led the way with this cautious approach, pioneering a “watch and wait” tactic for ear infections. While once every ear infection was treated with amoxicillin or something similar, now many pediatricians prefer to see if the child can overcome the infection without heavy-duty drugs.
