Antibiotic Therapy for HS Could Induce Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotic therapy for hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) may induce antibiotic resistance, according to a recent study.

While antibiotic therapy is commonly used for the treatment of HS, there is little data available detailing the association between antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance in HS lesions.
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To explore this issue, researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 239 patients with HS evaluated from 2010 to 2015.

Overall, patients who used topical clindamycin were more likely to grow clindamycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus compared with those not using antibiotics (63% vs 17%), and those taking ciprofloxacin were more likely to grow ciprofloxacin-resistant methicillin-resistant S aureus compared with those using no antibiotics (100% vs 10%). Those taking trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole were more likely to grow trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole-resistant Proteus species compared with patients using no antibiotics (88% vs 0%). Tetracyclines and oral clindamycin were not associated with any significant antimicrobial resistance.

“These findings highlight the importance of stewardship in antibiotic therapy for HS and raise questions regarding the balance of antibiotic use versus potential harms associated with antibiotic resistance,” the researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Fischer AH, Haskin A, Okoye GA. Patterns of antimicrobial resistance in lesions of hidradenitis suppurativa. JAAD. 2017;76(2)309-213.e2.