Six months antibiotics for acne?

[karm0099]

Get him some Frutels, all natural vit therapy for acne. You can find them online and they do work. I've been on antibiotics for acne and don't think they really work over the long term - good luck

[aussie_jono]

Originally Posted by SteffiM

He does use all them. Don't work. He never had antibiotics for anything, so resistance is unlikely first-time, right? Especially if the acne contributes to insecurity?

The selective preasure starts selecting for resistant bacteria from day one..... if he develops a systemic infection, it is far more likely to be resistant to antibiotic tratment, and also, valuable antibiotics used for treating lifethreatening infections are rendered less useful to society because they are squandered on teenage zits.

[aussie_jono]

"Presentation: A 16-year-old boy was referred to a hospital emergency department by his general practitioner after presenting with fever (39ºC), rigors and left-sided pleuritic chest pain.

Investigations and history: A chest x-ray showed left lower lobe pneumonia. The boy reported that he was allergic to amoxycillin and cephalosporins (as a child he had developed a rash to these agents). He had been taking daily doxycycline for the previous three months to treat mild acne, which had not responded to self-selected, over-the-counter preparations.

Management and course: He was treated with intravenous erythromycin because of his reported β-lactam allergies, but continued to be unwell, with ongoing fevers and rigors.

The day after admission, both sputum and blood cultures grew Streptococcus pneumoniae. After 48 hours, antibiotic sensitivity results showed that the isolate was intermediate-resistant to penicillin, and resistant to both erythromycin and tetracycline. The antibiotic treatment was changed to vancomcyin.

His fever resolved over the next 12 hours, and he made a slow but full recovery over the next week.
This patient developed a life-threatening infection with an antibiotic-resistant strain of S. pneumoniae. Because he was likely to be allergic to β-lactams, few options remained for therapy.

If not allergic to β-lactams, he could have been treated with intravenous penicillin, which remains effective therapy for pneumonia and septicaemia caused by S. pneumoniae strains with intermediate penicillin resistance.

Carriage of the resistant strain probably resulted from the long-term doxycycline therapy. Long-term use of any antibiotic for acne is likely to select resistant strains not only of Propionibacterium acnes, but also of other bacteria carried by the patient. Because doxycycline is broad-spectrum, its use helps select strains resistant to other antibiotics, such as erythromycin.

Mild to moderate acne can usually be successfully treated with combined topical therapy with benzoyl peroxide and retinoic acid, after discussion with a GP on optimal application.21 Antibiotics should not be prescribed unless absolutely necessary."

Medical Journal of Australia, Sept 2002

[SteffiM]

Righty. That article actually convinced me that it would be the right therapy for him. His acne is NOT mild and he is not allergic to anything. I said he hasn't used antibiotics yet, made mistake. He used antibiotic creams for impetigo.

Maybe it's odd to understand, but society owes a lot to this boy. So a three months course of antibiotics for severe acne will be good.

he hasn't been to school for about a year now, the acne plays part in that. The other reason was that his mother couldn't get him and his wee sister to school, or provide properly for them due to mental health issues.

His acne is severe and sore and prevents him from doing what other kids his age do.

It's not just a few zits

But let's not turn this into a debate, okay?

[aussie_jono]

OK, my bad... has anybody considered Roaccutane?