How do you deal with persistent effusion after otitis media?
Click here for previous newsletters.
1. Counselling Conundrum: a real question from a patient
2. Concise Conclusion: a straight-forward patient-friendly answer
3. Quick Wrap-up
Clearly, there are nuances that may not be captured in this format. The goal here is to provide you with helpful counselling tips which often draw from multiple sources or those which are not commonly accessed by busy healthcare providers serving the community.

Counselling Conundrum: "My doctor said there is still fluid inside my child's ear, though they feel much better, and to continue the antibiotics prescribed for an extra few days. Is there anything else I can do?"
Concise Conclusion: There is actually no need to continue the antibiotics, as very often after the bacteria die off, there can still be fluid in the ear. Keep an eye on it, avoid exposing your child to smoking, and after 3 months if it's still an issue then there should be a new assessment.
Quick Wrap-up: Middle ear effusion can continue for up to 3 months (60% of patients resolve within the first 4 weeks, 80% resolve within the first 2 months and 90% resolve within the 3 month mark), and extending duration of antibiotics or switching to a different agent is not necessary. The vast majority of effusions resolve within 3 months, and the most reliable thing a patient can do to prevent this is to avoid exposure to smoking.
Dive Deeper
1) MUMS Anti-Infective Guidelines
We hope you have found this useful. A reply to this email with any feedback or topic suggestion you may have would be greatly appreciated. Your input will be the key to making this newsletter the best it can be.
Comentarios