Anti-biotics and autism

[catski]

DS (just turned 3, mild autism) has his first ear infection. We took him to see the out of hours doctor who has prescribed 7 days of anti biotics for him (amoxicillin).

Am I right in thinking that it is augmentin or co-amoxiclav(ie amoxicillin plus clavulanate potassium) which are the ones which may have a link to autism?

I am cacking myself giving it to him.

Hi,
I'm afarid I cant help you on this but will be interested and worried about the response to this as my dd is 4 and has had this antibiotic every month since last September for ongoing ear infections :-(

x x

Ooh, don't know but again would be interested to see as ds2 had large doses of AB's from birth.

I'm afraid I don't know either but would be very interested too.

DD2 (2.11) also had recurrent ear infections every 2 weeks until last June and was on anti biotics all the time. I felt we were on a slippery slope and the wake up call was when the audiologist prescribed her long term AB's when she wasn't even 2. I got desperate and went to see a homeopath and she's been clear ever since.

I know a lot of people think it's a bit whacky and a load of rubbish but she hasn't had any prescription drugs for almost a year now.

Also, most ear infections are viral so anti biotics don't work anyway. May be better off just alternating calpol and nurofen until it clears and skip the AB's altogether.

HTH

I'm sorry - I hope I'm not scaremongering. I'm sure I read something about here but it may have just been a hypothesis. I will look at the archives to see if I can find anything.

I'd prefer to err on the side of caution and see if it will clear up on it's own but we're going on holiday tomorrow and I don't want to risk it getting worse and having to find a doctor over there (or hospital? Do ear infections ever get that bad?) who might prescribe who knows what.

Are you flying?

I just read my post and it looks like I'm being really preachy. It wasn't meant like that at all, just saying what works for us.

I'd be very interested if there was a link. Ds had antibiotics from birth for a year as a precaution against getting UTIs - something not quite right with his kidney on the scans which turned out to be nothing.

mumgoingcrazy I didn't know that about ear infections being viral either so thanks for your post too

Yes ear infections can get that bad. They can cause meningitis for a start. If left untreated they can cause the eardrum to burst which, apart from being very painful, can cause permanent hearing damage if they happen many times.

If you don't want antibiotics until they are really needed that's fine but please do it in consulation with your GP.