Antistreptococcal treatment of guttate psoriasis: a controlled study.

BACKGROUND: The role of streptococcal infection in the initiation of guttate psoriasis is well-recognized. But the treatment results with oral erythromycin and phenoxymethylpenicillin are conflicting.

OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to evaluate the effectiveness of these antibiotics in the treatment of streptococcus associated guttate psoriasis comparing with a control group.

METHODS: A total of 43 male patients with serologic evidence of a recent streptococcal infection were studied. Their mean age was 21 years (ranged between 19 and 23 years). These 43 patients were randomly allocated into three groups (no treatment group n = 15, erythromycin group n = 14, phenoxymethylpenicillin group n = 14). Both the treatment groups were treated for 14 d. All the groups were followed up for additional 4 weeks.

RESULTS: There were no statistically significant improvement in any group and among the groups.

CONCLUSION: There was no statistically significant improvement in streptococcus associated guttate psoriasis with or without a course of oral penicillin or erythromycin.