Antibiotic-Resistant Acne Vulgaris Becoming Problematic
Whenever a patient comes into my office and health history reveals severe allergies, GI complaints, PMS complaints…I will always ask back to any long term antibiotic use as a child–pneumonia, ear infections or acne. This long term use of broad spectrum antibiotics is devastating to our normal flora. In this study, researchers advise clinicians against using antibiotics for severe acne. Might I suggest high dose vitamin A, assessment for food allergies and probiotics instead?
11th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Antibiotics should not be used to treat severe acne, Swedish investigators said here on Tuesday at the 11th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Eva Borglund and associates at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm based their recommendation on the results of a study in which resistant Propionibacterium acnes strains were recovered in 28% of severe acne patients treated with antibiotics. The investigators detected resistant strains in only 6% of severe acne patients not treated with antibiotics. “P. acnes is thought to play a key role in acne vulgaris and especially in the pathogenesis of inflamed lesions,” Dr. Borglund said. “While antibiotics have been used for the treatment of acne vulgaris for over 20 years and are still widely prescribed (mostly for moderate to severe cases), our results suggest that it may be worthwhile to re-think this practice.”