Drop in S. aureus carriage rate with antibiotic tx of acne

(HealthDay)—Treatment of acne with antibiotics is associated with a significant decrease in the rate of Staphylococcus aureus carriage, according to a study published in the April issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Gregory R. Delost, D.O., from the University Hospitals Regional Hospitals in Richmond Heights, Ohio, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional quasi-experimental study of dermatology patients with a diagnosis of acne vulgaris. Samples of anterior nares were collected from patients who were treated with antibiotics (142 patients) or not treated with antibiotics (121 patients). Specimens were grown on mannitol salt agar to test for the presence of S. aureus and then isolated on 5 percent sheep blood agar.

The researchers found that patients with acne treated with antibiotics had a significantly lower carriage rate of S. aureus than those not treated with antibiotics (6.3 versus 15.7 percent; P = 0.016). There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of the percentage of S. aureus isolates resistant to one or more antibiotics (P = 0.434).

"Treatment of patients with acne using antibiotics decreases the S. aureus carriage rate but does not significantly alter the antibiotic resistance rates," the authors write.

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