Question My 10 month old son has had an ear infection for 6 weeks and is now on his 4th round of antibiotics. He was given amoxocillin, augmentin, zithromax, and today they just gave him a shot of something and told us to come back tomorrow. He has had a fever most of the time up to 103*. Are there any tests that my Doctors could be doing to help them figure out which antibiotics will work for this virus? At what point do I take him to an ENT? Could this be an antibiotic resistant bacteria? If so, what do we do? Do you think he is contagious still? Thank you so much for your time, we are quite worried about our son.
Answer The shot is probably Rocephin, or ceftriaxone. It's a very good antibiotic for serious infections in childrem. Three shots in 3 days usually gets rid of most infections. If the ear infection occurs again, it's probably time to refer him to an ENT. In order to figure out what antibiotic will work best, they would have to put a hole into the eardrum with a needle and take out some of the fluid behind it. That would have to be done by the ENT, and he would have to be put to sleep under anesthesia. It probably is an antibiotic resistant bacteria--the important thing is to find an antibiotic that works. Rocephin does work on most of them. Ear infections are not contagious, but the colds that lead to them are quite contagious.
He should go back for the next two doses of Rocephin. If it comes back again, ask for a referral to an ENT.
