Miami. FL. (PRWEB) April 30, 2013

It is only natural that every parent gets concerned when seeing a child in pain, and that is why many parents bring their children to Fastcare office for a checkup. Most parents can care for a simple cold or a low-grade fever at home, but when their young ones get fussy and start pulling on their ears, it is often time to come in to see if they have an ear infection.

According to Fastcare, a Miami urgent care center, a middle-ear infection (also referred to as acute otitis media – AOM), is one of the most common bacterial illnesses in children. Each year, earaches send millions of parents many of whom have spent a long night without sleep trying to calm their crying child to the pediatrician. Those parents often hear grandma telling them that their child needs antibiotics because thats how it was done in my day. But things have changed since grandma asked for, or even sometimes demanded, antibiotics. Improved vaccines now protect children from the bacteria that caused meningitis and other serious infections when grandma was raising her own children. The good news is that now, most fully vaccinated children recover from ear infections on their own within two or three days without antibiotics.

Attributed to The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issue of guidelines for the treatment of uncomplicated childrens ear infections, April 2013 Fastcare have announced that the new guidelines attempt to expand upon and further clarify the AAPs recommendations from 2004, which suggested that watchful waiting was best before prescribing antibiotic treatment. The new guidelines offer more stringent criteria to use in making an accurate diagnosis of AOM, enabling clinicians to prescribe antibiotics most effectively. The guidelines also include recommendations for treatment with antibiotics and pain relievers, or observation alone, based on the childs age and severity of symptoms. For those vaccinated children without severe signs of infection, watchful waiting may be a better option than starting antibiotics right away. Since many of these children will recover from their ear infection without antibiotics, watchful waiting prevents the expense and the side effects of unnecessary antibiotics.

Preventative Steps for ear infections – The new guidelines also offer parents useful information on the best ways to protect their child from a painful ear infection. These include maintaining a tobacco-free home and keeping children away from passive tobacco smoke, and breastfeeding newborns for at least six months. Natural practice to be effective in reducing the number of earaches a child will experience.

Even with better vaccines offered, ear infections will remain a part of life for infants and their parents. Pediatricians and parents should work together to minimize unnecessary antibiotics while helping children with ear infections heal and be pain-free.

About Fastcare Fastcare, a Miami urgent care center, is a step down from the traditional emergency room with minimal waiting time. They treat all non-life threatening illnesses and injuries, accept most private insurances and are contracted with all Workers Compensation Insurance companies. Due to their direct contracting with most insurance companies, a visit to FastCare will be at lower coat in the form of lower copays and lower charges vs. the emergency room. Fastacres main priority is to provide quality medical care in a timely manner for their patients.

As a network of emergency walk in clinics, FastCare Aventura and Miami beach provides flu shots on a seasonal basis and offers preoperative physicals and clearances when patients are required to have one done prior to a surgical procedure.

For more detailed information on the treatment of a specific type of illness, please contact FastCare at: 786-923-4000, email them at: info(at)myfastcare(dot)com or visit their website http://www.myfastcare.com/

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