The widespread use of standard antibiotics to treat sinus infections does not help cure patients and may harm them by increasing their resistance to the drugs, according to a new study published today.
The researchers found that the percentage of patients who got well in 10 days was about the same whether they took an antibiotic or a placebo.
“With a little bit of patience, the body will usually heal itself,” said Dr. Ian Williamson, a family medicine researcher at the University of Southampton in England and lead author of the paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The results showed that patients should be more willing to forgo antibiotics, although they should still check with their doctors when a cold worsens into a sinus infection, he said.
More than 80 percent of American physicians prescribe antibiotics for sinus infections, said Dr. Daniel Merenstein, a family physician at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., who was not involved in the study. Recent studies also have shown that antibiotics are unnecessary for treating ear infections and bronchitis.
The researchers also tested the efficacy of a nasal steroid spray called budesonide because it was thought to reduce inflammation. The proportion of patients in the steroid group and the placebo group who had symptoms lasting 10 or more days was the same at 31 percent.
Sinusitis is an inflammation of the sinuses that commonly develops as a complication from a cold. Allergies can also cause sinusitis, but researchers in this study focused on cases likely caused by bacteria.
Bacterial cases often lead to localized pain in the face and thick discharges from the nose, with more coming from one nostril.
Despite a long-held notion, recent studies have found that yellowish or greenish mucous doesn’t always mean the infections are bacterial, said Dr. Vincenza Snow, a Philadelphia internist and director of clinical programs and quality of care at the American College of Physicians.
Moreover, while antibiotics are designed to treat bacteria, these drugs aren’t always very effective at treating bacterial sinus infections because the medicine has a tough time reaching the sinuses, she said.
Sinus infections are diagnosed in about 31 million Americans each year.
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