Recurrent infections are more common in children treated with antibiotics.
A weakening of the body’s natural immune defenses could explain the greater recurrence of ear infections among children treated with amoxicillin, according to the authors of a study published in the British Medical Journal (July 1, 2009).
Of children given the antibiotic medication, 63 percent had another ear infection within the next three years, compared to 43 percent of those given a placebo. A greater percentage of children in the placebo group, however, required surgery after their initial infection.
Antibiotic use may also have caused an “unfavorable shift” toward the development of resistant bacteria in the treated children, the researchers said.
[SOURCE: British Medical Journal press release, June 30, 2009]