Should I get my child between age 2-12 an antibiotic for a moderate ear infection that doesn't results in high fever (over 102.0F) or severe, disabling pain?

Question:

Should I get my child between age 2-12 an antibiotic for a moderate ear infection that doesn’t results in high fever (over 102.0F) or severe, disabling pain?

Answer:

No

MedHead Confidence Score: 8

Amount Saved: $175 urgent care and medication price post

Med-O-Meter

MedHead Message:

Not all ear infections should be treated with antibiotics. In fact, most shouldn’t. There is a relatively silent antibiotic resistance epidemic happening right now, and most people don’t even know about it. Urgent care is one of the biggest culprits. DON’T DEMAND ANTBIOTICS FROM YOUR DOCTOR. It’s not nice and you may end up in trouble someday because you took a bunch of antibiotics over the years for viral infections and are now resistant to antibiotics.

References:

https://www.aafp.org/dam/AAFP/documents/about_us/initiatives/choosing-wisely-fifteen-questions.pdf