By IANS
London : Antibiotic drugs prescribed by doctors for sinus infections in adult may not be effective, says a study.
Sinus infection or sinusitis is one of the most common complications of the common cold or flu. Symptoms include headache, pressure in the eyes, cheeks and nose.
People with the illness may also get nasal congestion with thick nasal secretions, cough, and fever.
Though doctors prescribe antibiotics to treat the illness, it may not offer much help, the study by British researchers at the University of Southampton in Britain suggests.
Ian G. Williamson and colleagues studied 240 patients, aged 16 and older, whose symptoms suggested that they had sinus infection caused by bacteria. Viruses also cause sinus infections, but antibiotics do not help viral infections, the online edition of the health magazine WebMD reported.
As part of the study, patients were treated with amoxicillin, an antibiotic often used for bacterial sinus infections. A fourth of the patients received no treatment, but just got inactive placebo pills and placebo sprays.
Ten days later, patients who got no active treatment were just as likely to be cured as those treated with antibiotics.
Steroid nasal sprays made little difference, although they seemed to help people with mild nasal congestion and seemed to make things a little worse for those with very intense nasal congestion, the scientists said.
Williamson and colleagues reported their findings in the Dec 5 issue of the Journal of American Medical Association.
Although the study does not definitively rule out the effect of antibiotics, but it may be very small, said Williamson.