The macrolides - azithromycin and erythromycin for acne treatment

The macrolides are a group of antibiotic used to treat acne. Erythromycin for acne and azithromycin are the two drugs belongs to macrolides.

Erythromycin for Acne

It is one of the macrolides groups of antibiotics used for the treatment of moderate to severe acne. Erythromycin  has a number of advantages over tetracycline. During the treatment course, it destroy bacteria that lives deep in sebaceous glands of the skin. It has also anti-inflammatory properties that can reduce swelling and redness due to acne.  

Based on the severity of acne and concentration of the active ingredient, erythromycin  can be prescribed as 250mg - 500mg twice a day. This antibiotics is also available as topical treatments.

Advantages of Erythromycin

Erythromycin for acne has some advantages over other antibiotics:

• It  is the best antibiotic options for breast feeding and pregnant woman.
• It will not cause discoloration of tooth among young children.
  

Common Side-effects

• Toxicity to heart
• stomach upset and nausea
• Liver toxicity
• Pancreatitis
  

Tips

• Take this medicine with food.
• Take your medicine at a regular time since the medicine works best when a uniform amount of medication in the body system.
• Take all the doses unless you see some side effects.

Azithromycin

Azithromycin is the second types of antibiotics in macrolides group that can improve acne by inhibiting the growth of acne causing bacteria that causes acne vulgaris.  It can also be used to treat acne fulminans.

The main drawbacks of azithromycin is the increased level of resistant bacteria. Most research shows that acne causing bacteria develops resistance against azithromycin. Compared to other antibiotics, the incidence of side effects of azithromycin is lower.

It is sold under the brand name of Zithromax. Package of six are the commonly available azithromycin consists of one 500mg dosage for the first day and four 250mg dosage for the next four days. Another alternatives dosages are 200mg or 500mg of zithromax three times a week for a period of 2-3 months.

Common Side-effects

• Stomach upset, diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting
• Skin rash and redness
• Fever
•  Irregular heartbeat
•  Anaphylaxis
• It interfere with the effectiveness of hormonal birth control pills.
• Not recommended for pregnant and breast feeding woman.   
• It  enhance the risk of developing vaginal and oral yeast infections.
  

Tips

• Take this medicine with food.
• Take your medicine at a regular time since the medicine works best when a uniform amount of medication in the body system.
• Take all the doses unless you see some side effects.

Advantages

• It causes less gastrointestinal effects compared with other antibiotics.
• Unlike other acne antibiotics,  azithromycin does not cause further sensitivity to UV-light.

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Tags

Moderate acne, severe acne, acne vulgaris, acne fulminans