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Study Examines Sinus Infections, Antibiotics

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― It's hard for doctors to tell the difference between sinus infections that can be treated with antibiotics and those that can't and now a new study is urging doctors to give up using antibiotics altogether.

That's because bacteria, constantly surrounded by antibiotics, can develop ways to fight off these drugs and pass on the defenses to other bacteria, leaving all of us vulnerable to drug-resistant bacterial infections.

A lot of people look to antibiotics for relief, but for the most part, antibiotics aren't justified, according to a study in the Journal Lancet.

Studies of 2,500 adult patients with an infection of the air spaces around the nose and throat were reviewed. Doctors used symptoms to sort out viral infections where antibiotics would be useless and bacterial infections where the drugs would be helpful.

But the symptoms weren't much help - for 14 out of 15 people who were given a prescription, antibiotics weren't appropriate.

When antibiotics are taken unnecessarily, bacteria can become resistant. But it's hard for doctors to explain that to a patient with a dripping, painful sinus.

While material from the sinuses can be sent to the lab to tell whether an infection is viral or bacterial, it's expensive and time-consuming. The quick and easy antibiotic prescription often wins over the larger societal issue of antibiotic resistance.

For the facial pain and clogged nose and head, patients can try saline nasal spray, decongestants and over-the-counter pain relievers instead of antibiotics.

The best cure for sinusitis is time.

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