Is Acute Otitis Media a Treatable Disease?

In this issue of the Journal, investigators in Pittsburgh and in Turku, Finland, respond to the question of whether infants and young children with acute otitis media benefit from amoxicillin–clavulanate therapy initiated at the time of diagnosis. 1 , 2 Physicians who cared for children 50 years ago would be surprised — more likely shocked — that the question is being asked. Before antimicrobial agents were introduced, acute otitis media was a severe event in infants. In 1932, acute otitis media and its suppurative complications accounted for 27% of all pediatric admissions to Bellevue Hospital. 3 Mastoiditis and suppurative intracranial complications were common. . . .