Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Sinus infection? Antibiotics won't help

Roughly 20% of the antibiotic prescriptions written in the United States for adults each year are for sinus infections. That's an impressive statistic, given that doctors and public health officials have long doubted that antibiotics can successfully treat the condition.

A new study, published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, appears to confirm those doubts: The antibiotic amoxicillin was no better than placebo at improving the congestion, cough, runny nose, pain, and other symptoms that accompany sinus infections (also known as acute sinusitis), researchers found.

"Compared to placebo, amoxicillin doesn't seem to provide any benefits," says lead author Jane Garbutt, an associate professor at the Washington University School of Medicine, in St. Louis. "In terms of patient satisfaction, side effects, symptom relief, days missed from work, et cetera, we did not see any difference."

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