JoAnn was at work when she received a call from the day care where Michael, her five month-old son, was being watched.

JoAnn was at work when she received a call from the day care where Michael, her five month-old son, was being watched. The child care provider told JoAnn that Michael had been fussy that morning, napped only a short while, refused his bottle, and was running a temperature of 101°F. JoAnn told the day care provider that she would be right over to pick up Michael. She called her pediatrician’s office and scheduled an appointment for that afternoon.

The pediatrician inspected Michael’s ears and informed JoAnn that Michael had a middle ear infection. She asked JoAnn if Michael had been coughing a lot and if he recently had a cold or runny nose. She also asked if Michael was breast-fed or bottle-fed and if there was anyone in their household who smoked. JoAnn told the doctor that Michael’s nose had been draining quite a bit lately, that he was bottle-fed, and that neither she nor her husband smoked. The doctor wrote a prescription for antibiotics and instructed JoAnn to give Michael a non-prescription childrens’ pain medication. An appointment was made for a recheck in two weeks.

Case Background