This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on ISI (1)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Pulmonary Diseases  • Pulmonary Diseases, Other  • Acne  • Drug Therapy  • Adverse Effects  • Alert me on articles by topic

Arch Dermatol. 2005;141:1157-1158.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

In this issue of the ARCHIVES, Margolis et al¹ report for the first time that there is a statistically significant association between antibiotic use in acne and the incidence of upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs). Their findings will likely stimulate considerable discussion, especially given the increasing public awareness and concern about antibiotic use in general.

Although the authors are careful to point out that their study does not prove causation, their finding of an approximately 2-fold increased odds of URTIs associated with antibiotic use in acne is important and deserves further examination. If subsequent studies also confirm this association, current treatment of acne may change. In this editorial, we address the methodology of the study and the plausibility of its results.

Overall, Margolis and colleagues report a methodologically sound cohort study using a reliable database and a large sample of more than 118 000 patients. They control for several . . . [Full Text of this Article]

AUTHOR INFORMATION
An-Wen Chan, MD, DPhil; James C. Shaw, MD, FRCPC

RELATED ARTICLE

Antibiotic Treatment of Acne May Be Associated With Upper Respiratory Tract Infections
David J. Margolis, Whitney P. Bowe, Ole Hoffstad, and Jesse A. Berlin
Arch Dermatol. 2005;141(9):1132-1136.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT