Drs. Soyka and Robinson Reply

The letter of Dr. Wineberg makes four points and then deteriorates to a diatribe. While not wishing to participate in a town-gown quarrel, it might be pointed out that Dr. Wineberg would not qualify as an academic because not even 50% of what he has said is true. First, the children seen in the emergency room at the Boston City Hospital are in no way comparable to those seen in a routine office visit. The presence of bacteremia in these children is an indication for appropriate intensive antibacterial therapy, and treatment with the usual antibiotics in the usual doses that are all too routinely employed for upper respiratory tract infections would be inadequate.