Omnicef Dosage

Dear Lisa

I brought my 7 year old son to the Pediatrician three days ago because he complained of a sore throat and I noticed that he was sleeping more than normal. My doctor did a throat culture for Strep. I was told that my son’s throat didn’t look like Strep, but the Doctor gave me samples for Omnicef because he had swollen lymph nodes in his neck. I gave the Omnicef to my son once a day as prescribed, for the last three days. Today my doctor called and informed me that the throat culture was positive and that my son has strep. He called a prescription into my pharmacy for Omnicef. When I picked up the prescription from the pharmacy I noticed the directions read: give two times per day. Is this too much medicine? When my Doctor gave me the samples, he told me to give it only once a day and now the prescription reads twice per day. I don’t want to call my doctor because I don’t want to bother him and I don’t want him to think that I am questioning him.

“Don’t want to bother the Doctor in N.J.”

Dear “Don’t want to bother the Doctor”

I understand your confusion regarding the dosage of Omnicef. Like many antibiotics, Omnicef is indicated for many types of infections such as pharyngitis, ear infections, sinusitis, urinary tract infections and skin infections. Depending on the type of infection and clinical presentation, Omnicef can be given once or twice per day for a duration of 5 or 10 days. In my practice I prefer to give Omnicef twice per day for 10 days duration for Strep Pharyngitis because I find there is a better cure rate. Therefore just because Omnicef is prescribed to be given twice per day doesn’t necessarily mean that it is a medication error. Whenever you have a question about medication dosages or side effects you can use your pharmacist as a resource. He or she can tell you if a medication dosage is correct for your child’s weight. More importantly, I wouldn’t worry about bothering your doctor. Most doctors welcome questions about medication dosages and would not feel that you are questioning them. It is possible for medication errors to occur when a prescription is verbally telephoned into the pharmacy because of the potential for miscommunication and language barriers. Therefore, whenever you have a question about a medication dosage (especially a prescription that is telephoned into the pharmacy) it is best to call your doctor to double check.


Lisa Kelly R.N., P.N.P.,C.
Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner

Pediatric Advice - For Parents with sick kids