Bacterial sensitivity pattern to antibiotics in acne vulgaris at Universitas Sumatera Utara Hospital Medan, Indonesia in 2019

Abstract

Background: Acne vulgaris (AV) is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the pilosebaceous unit. Antibiotics play essential roles in the treatment of AV because of their antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. With the extensive use of antibiotics, antibiotic resistance patterns in AV lesions should be determined to ensure safe and appropriate administration of antibiotics for the treatment of AV. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 80 specimens from AV lesions. Each specimen was cultured and underwent susceptibility tests to azithromycin, erythromycin, clindamycin, doxycycline, minocycline, tetracycline, levofloxacin and ciprofloxacin using disc diffusion methods that met Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) standard. Results: From a total 97 bacterial colonies growth from 80 specimens, 12 species were identified, namely Cutibacterium acnes, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus hominis, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphyococcys haemolyticus, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Micrococcus luteus, Kocuria varians, Staphylococcus vitulinus, Staphylococcus cohnii, Staphylococcus arlettae and Dermacoccus nishinomyaensis. Antibiotic with highest bacterial sensitivity rate was minocycline, followed by levofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, tetracycline, azithromycin, erythromycin, and clindamycin. Most of the species were intermediately sensitive to azithromycin, clindamycin, erythromycin, doxycycline, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, and levofloxacin. Antibiotic with highest bacterial resistance rate was erythromycin, followed by clindamycin, azithromycin, tetracycline, doxycycline, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin and minocycline. Conclusions: In cases of acne vulgaris, minocycline and levofloxacin were the two antibiotics with the highest bacterial sensitivity, while erythromycin and clindamycin were the two antibiotics with the highest bacterial resistance in AV lesions. Keywords: acne vulgaris, antibiotics, bacterial sensitivity