Acute otitis media: a simple diagnosis, a simple treatment

To assess the symptoms and signs of acute otitis media and efficiency of simple antibiotics like amoxicillin in its treatment in the primary health care setup. This is a prospective longitudinal study including 204 patients from different institutions. Patients were diagnosed as suffering from acute otitis media when presented with earache, fever, fullness and or otorrhea. Patients were divided into two equal groups on basis of the treatment they received, Group A received only symptomatic treatment while Group B were given Amoxicillin (40 mg/kg/day) for 7 days. Acute otitis media was common in children under 15 years (64.7%). Patients presented with earache (100%), aural fullness (90.68%), fever (76.47%) associated with recent onset of upper respiratory tract infections (88.23%). In group A, improvement was noticed in 28.43% in 3 days while 35.29% in 7 days. In group B, improvement was noticed in 48.03% in day 3 while 86.27% in day 7. In countries where medical care is scarce, patients lost to follow up, it is wise to treat with simple antibiotics like amoxicillin in adequate dose than to treat only symptomatically. It prevents chronicity, early hearing impairments and reduces antibiotic resistance.