PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Each year, about 30 million people visit their doctor for a sinus infection, and a significant percentage go to the doctor's office with the expectation of getting an antibiotic to treat the problem.
Are antibiotics necessary? Scientists from the University of Kansas looked at the common causes and found a significant number of cases are due to viruses that don't respond to antibiotics.
However, those caused by bacteria respond to antibiotics. Doctors don't give antibiotics to everyone because for every 100 adults with a sinus infection treated with antibiotics, five will benefit and 12 will be harmed.
According to the article, antibiotics should be reserved for people with fever, facial pain and purulent drainage.
Get more medical reports from Dr. Brian McDonough.
KYW Newsradio's Medical Reports are sponsored by Independence Blue Cross.
