Conjunctivitis: Can antibiotics help?

Researchers from England and the Netherlands looked at studies on the treatment of conjunctivitis with antibiotics. They wanted to find out whether antibiotics help in the treatment of ordinary conjunctivitis, and what possible disadvantages they might have.

The researchers only analyzed the results of studies that compared at least two groups of people. One group of participants used antibiotic eye drops or creams. Another group used non-antibiotic eye drops or creams.

The researchers only included studies in which the participants were randomly assigned to one of the treatment groups. This kind of study, called a randomized controlled trial, delivers the most reliable results.

The researchers found a total of eleven studies involving nearly 3,700 children and adults.

The analysis of the studies shows that acute conjunctivitis goes away somewhat faster when antibiotics are used. The following results were found for people who went to a family doctor or eye specialist because of conjunctivitis:

• Without antibiotics: The infection cleared up within six to ten days in about 46 out of 100 cases.
• With antibiotics: The infection cleared up within six to ten days in about 56 out of 100 cases.

In other words, antibiotics helped to speed up the recovery in 10 out of 100 people within this time.

None of the studies reported on side effects of the antibiotics. They also did not look into whether antibiotics lower the risk of the infection spreading.