The author of this paper has been kind enough to provide a scan of the 2 page article. As well as being published in Archives of Dermatology, this paper was also presented as a poster at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology, March 2-7, 2001. The author has also submitted a followup article that is currently being reviewed.
Oral use of azithromycin for the treatment of acne rosacea, Archives of Dermatology 2004, Apr;140(4):489-90, Adolfo Fernandez-Obregon MD, Hudson Dermatology & Skin Cancer Center.
… Oral antibiotics, requiring frequent administration, introduce the possibility of poor compliance, and their long-term use carries the risk of uncomfortabl e side-effects or other adverse reactions. Topical agents have been known to cause dryness and irritation in individuals with sensitive skin. Azithromycin given 3 times a week has been used successfully to treat acne vulgaris. Its use for the treatment of rosacea has not been previously evaluated.
Methods: 10 adults ranging in age from 32 to 76 were given azithromycin monotherapy for the treatment of acne rosacea. These patients had responded poorly to previous orgal regimes, did not favor repeating previous therapy, or had sufficiently irritated skin to warrent with holiding topical therapy at the time. The patients were not receiving treatment for rosacea for at least 30 days, nor were they taking any medication that could either exacerbate or improve signs and symptoms of rosacea. Patients washed involved skin with a commercially available soap substitute (Cetaphil Cleanser), the sole topical agent used. These patients were advised to take a single dose of 250 mg of azithromycin 3 times a week (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays).
Results: All patients treated with azithromycin showed moderate to marked improvement of their rosacea. Five patients had moderate clinical staging and 5 had severe clinical staging prior to treatment. Seven of the 10 patients showed marked improvement following therapy, while 3 shoed moderate improvement. With the exception of 2 patients with moderate clinical staging, eye involvement was seen in the more severe cases. Though not shown in the data, severe cases reported a tendency to have eye symptoms. No significant side effects were reported from the use of the cleanser or azithromycin. All patients fel the regimen improved their rosacea. All patients felt the showed a universal preference to the regimen using azithromycin 3 times a week when asked to compare it with other oral regimes used previously.
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