Aid for Acne Victims

One of the most disturbing ailments that can befall an adolescent is acne, which can cause ugly eruptions and of ten leaves scars on the face. Oral antibiotics have been used to control the condition, but Dr. Albert M. Kligman and his colleagues at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania have been looking for an antibiotic that could be applied directly to the skin to deal with acne pustules. In tests, they treated 80 youngsters with moderate acne with four widely used antibiotics, applying the medications twice daily for eight weeks and counting the number of lesions at the end of each month. Three of the drugs--chloramphenicol, isoniazid and tetracycline--proved of little value. The fourth, erythromycin, showed that it may be worth further study. After four weeks, the drug had produced a small, but measurable reduction in acne lesions on the foreheads and cheeks of 16 of the 20 patients using it. By the end of two months, it had decreased the density of eruptions by about 70%.

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