@article{Ahmad_Aman_Nadeem_Kazmi_2012, title={Efficacy and safety of Oral Azithromycin in the Treatment of Mild to Moderate Acne Vulgaris}, volume={17}, url={https://annalskemu.org/journal/index.php/annals/article/view/582}, DOI={10.21649/akemu.v17i4.582}, abstractNote={<p><strong>Abstract</strong></p> <p>Background:  Acne is a very common skin disorder in our society. Azithromycin, an oral macrolide, has been found to be a new treatment for this disease.</p> <p><strong>Objective:</strong>  To assess the efficacy and safety of alter-nate day oral azithromycin 500 mg in the treatment of mild to moderate acne vulgaris.</p> <p><strong>Design: </strong> A quasi - experimental study.</p> <p>Place and Duration of Study:  The study was con-ducted at the Department of Dermatology, Unit - I, KEMU / Mayo Hospital, Lahore, during the six mon-ths period from 11<sup>th </sup>April to 10<sup>th</sup> October, 2009.</p><strong> Subjects and Methods:</strong>  One hundred and twenty patients of acne vulgaris were enrolled and baseline lesions were recorded. All patients were advised to<strong> </strong>take azithromycin 500 mg thrice a week orally for a period of 8 weeks after which they were followed up for the next 8 weeks at 2 weeks interval. The mean facial lesion count at baseline and after 8 weeks thera-py was performed in all the cases. The treatment was considered excellent if there was clearance of >80% of lesions, good at 50 - 80% clearance and poor if there was clearance of < 50% of lesions. The safety of treat-ment administered was assessed on the basis of local or systemic side effects of the drug. <p><strong>Results:</strong>  Out of 120 evaluable patients, there were 53 males and 67 females. Mean age of the patients was 21.2 ± 4.1 years. The mean facial lesion count after 8 weeks therapy was much reduced. The treatment reve-aled an excellent response in 79 (66%) patients, good in 31 (26%) and poor in 10 (8%) cases. Azithromycin was well tolerated by all the patients.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion:</strong>  Azithromycin 500mg thrice weekly for 8 weeks is found to be an effective and safe treatment for acne vulgaris.</p> <p><strong>Key Words:</strong>  Acne, vulgaris, azithromycin, macrolide.</p>}, number={4}, journal={Annals of King Edward Medical University}, author={Ahmad, Shama and Aman, Shahbaz and Nadeem, Muhammad and Kazmi, Atif Hasnain}, year={2012}, month={Nov.}, pages={437} }