Are antibiotic drugs needed for the treatment of upper respiratory tract infections in infants?

Abstract

Much confusion exists about the necessity of using antibiotic drugs to treat upper respiratory tract infections in children, especially infants. In this study the frequency of bacterial causes of such infections was studied in 4746 children under three years of age. Clinical evidence of infection was absent in half of these children and present in the others. There was no practical difference between the frequency of positive cultures from infected and non-infected children, suggesting that antibiotics were not required.