 This is a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled one-center study carried out in primary care setting of the health center of City of Turku, Finland. The study patients will be allocated to one of the two parallel treatment groups amoxicillin-clavulanate or placebo. The hypothesis is that the symptoms and signs of acute otitis media are resolved more effectively with antimicrobial treatment than with placebo. Furthermore, this study aims at finding out prognostic factors that could help to direct antimicrobial treatment for correct subgroups of young patients. 