Date	Event	Description
10 August 2022	Amended	Moved out of living mode.
10 May 2022	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 10 May 2022. One new study identified in April 2021, but is unlikely to have an important impact on review findings and will be integrated later. Another trial was identified in December 2021, and is being considered for inclusion. It is a small trial, and also unlikely to impact review findings. The review conclusions can be considered up to date.
11 April 2022	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 12 April 2022. One new study identified in April 2021, but is unlikely to have an important impact on review findings and will be integrated later. Another trial was identified in December 2021, and is being considered for inclusion. It is a small trial, and also unlikely to impact review findings. The review conclusions can be considered up to date.
10 February 2022	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 10 February 2022. One new study identified in April 2021, but is unlikely to have an important impact on review findings and will be integrated later. Another trial was identified in December 2021, and is being considered for inclusion. It is a small trial, and also unlikely to impact review findings. The review conclusions can be considered up to date.
17 January 2022	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 17 January 2022. One new study identified in April 2021, but is unlikely to have an important impact on review findings and will be integrated later. Another trial was identified in December 2021, and is being considered for inclusion. It is a small trial, and also unlikely to impact review findings. The review conclusions can be considered up to date.
12 November 2021	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 12 November 2021. One new study identified in April 2021, but is unlikely to have an important impact on review findings and will be integrated later. The review conclusions can be considered up to date.
12 October 2021	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 12 October 2021. One new study identified in April 2021, but is unlikely to have an important impact on review findings and will be integrated later. The review conclusions can be considered up to date.
13 September 2021	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 13 September 2021. One new study identified in April 2021, but is unlikely to have an important impact on review findings and will be integrated later. The review conclusions can be considered up to date.
12 July 2021	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 12 July 2021. One new study identified in April 2021, but is unlikely to have an important impact on review findings and will be integrated later. The review conclusions can be considered up to date.
10 June 2021	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 10 June 2021. One new study identified in April 2021, but is unlikely to have an important impact on review findings and will be integrated later. The review conclusions can be considered up to date.
10 April 2021	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 10 April 2021. One new study identified but is unlikely to have an important impact on review findings and will be integrated later. The review conclusions can be considered up to date.
10 February 2021	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 10 February 2021. Results of all new studies identified have been incorporated. The conclusions of this Cochrane Review are therefore considered up to date.
12 January 2021	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 12 January 2021. Results of all new studies identified have been incorporated. The conclusions of this Cochrane Review are therefore considered up to date.
10 November 2020	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 10 November 2020. Results of all new studies identified have been incorporated. The conclusions of this Cochrane Review are therefore considered up to date.
12 October 2020	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 12 October 2020. Results of all new studies identified have been incorporated. The conclusions of this Cochrane Review are therefore considered up to date.
21 September 2020	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 21 September 2020. Results of all new studies identified have been incorporated. The conclusions of this Cochrane Review are therefore considered up to date.
12 August 2020	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 12 August 2020. Results of all new studies identified have been incorporated. The conclusions of this Cochrane Review are therefore considered up to date.
10 June 2020	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 10 June 2020. Results of all new studies identified have been incorporated. The conclusions of this Cochrane Review are therefore considered up to date.
11 May 2020	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 11 May 2020. Results of all new studies identified have been incorporated. The conclusions of this Cochrane Review are therefore considered up to date.
15 April 2020	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 15 April 2020. Results of all new studies identified have been incorporated. The conclusions of this Cochrane Review are therefore considered up to date.
11 March 2020	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 11 March 2020. Results of all new studies identified have been incorporated. The conclusions of this Cochrane Review are therefore considered up to date.
10 February 2020	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 10 February 2020. Results of all new studies identified have been incorporated. The conclusions of this Cochrane Review are therefore considered up to date.
13 January 2020	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 13 January 2020. Results of all new studies identified have been incorporated. The conclusions of this Cochrane Review are therefore considered up to date.
10 December 2019	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 11 November 2019. Results of all new studies identified have been incorporated. The conclusions of this Cochrane Review are therefore considered up to date.
10 December 2019	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 10 December 2019. Results of all new studies identified have been incorporated. The conclusions of this Cochrane Review are therefore considered up to date.
10 October 2019	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 10 October 2019. Results of all new studies identified have been incorporated. The conclusions of this Cochrane Review are therefore considered up to date.
12 September 2019	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 11 September 2019. Results of all new studies identified have been incorporated. The conclusions of this Cochrane Review are therefore considered up to date.
12 August 2019	Amended	This is a living systematic review. Searches are run and screened monthly. Last search date 12 August 2019. Results of all new studies identified have been incorporated. The conclusions of this Cochrane Review are therefore considered up to date.
25 May 2017	New search has been performed	We updated the searches and included one new trial, De la Poza Abad 2016, and excluded four new trials (Agnew 2013; De la Poza Abad 2013; Little 2014; Worrall 2010).
25 May 2017	New citation required and conclusions have changed	Patient satisfaction favoured delayed over no antibiotics (odds ratio 1.49, 95% confidence interval 1.08 to 2.06). When doctors feel it is safe not to prescribe antibiotics immediately, prescribing none with advice to return if symptoms do not resolve, rather than delaying them, will result in lower subsequent antibiotic use. However, patient satisfaction may be greater when a delayed prescribing strategy is used; this will still result in a significant reduction in antibiotic use compared to an immediate prescribing strategy. No antibiotics resulted in the least antibiotic prescribing.
28 February 2013	New search has been performed	We have updated the searches. We included two new papers (Little 2006; Moore 2009), which reported longer‐term outcomes of two previously included studies (Little 2001; Little 2005a), including impact of delayed antibiotic prescribing on earache recurrence and subsequent consultation rates in the 12 months following the initial consultation. We excluded three new trials (Fischer 2009; Newson 2009; Vouloumanou 2009). Our conclusions remain unchanged.
28 February 2013	New citation required but conclusions have not changed	A new author joined the team to update the review.
5 August 2010	Amended	Contact details updated.
27 March 2009	New search has been performed	Searches conducted. This 2009 update contains one new study, Chao 2008, and Feedback on a comment submitted via the Cochrane Library.
16 June 2008	Feedback has been incorporated	Feedback comment added.
16 June 2008	Amended	Converted to new review format.
21 January 2007	New search has been performed	Searches conducted.
9 January 2004	New search has been performed	Searches conducted.