The problem of antibiotic resistance Propionibacterium acnes

According to data provided by Swedish scientists at the 11th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), antibiotics should not be used to treat severe forms of acne.

Researchers from the Karolinska Institute (Stockholm) presented the results of a study according to which resistant strains of Propionibacterium acnes were found in 28% of patients with severe acne treated with antibiotics. At the same time, in patients not receiving antibiotics, resistant strains were found only in 6% of cases.

It is believed that Propionibacterium acnes plays a key role in the development of acne and in particular in the pathogenesis of inflammatory lesions. Antibiotics have been used to treat acne for over 20 years and are widely prescribed today (mainly for the treatment of severe cases), but according to researchers, the data will force us to reconsider the basic concept of treatment.

Scientists studied the susceptibility of strains of Propionibacterium acnes isolated from 129 patients with severe acne, including 99 patients who received treatment with systemic antibiotics in the past 2 to 6 months and 30 patients who have not received antibiotics for at least 2 months.

According to the researchers, the growing number of resistant strains isolated from patients treated with antibiotics necessitates the use of other methods that do not include antibiotics to treat severe forms of acne.