title: Upper respiratory tract infection in household contacts of acne patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Antibiotic use in acne patients has been associated with an increased risk of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI).
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective cohort study using the General Practice Research Database of the United Kingdom. All study subjects were identified as sharing a residence with a patient with a diagnosis of acne. Outcome of interest was a URTI.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified 98,094 contacts of acne patients. A contact of an acne patient who had a URTI was about 43% more likely to develop a URTI than a contact of an acne patient who did not have a URTI (OR = 1.43 CI = 1.33-1.52, p < 0.001). Exposure to an acne patient using antibiotics did not independently increase a contact's risk of URTI (OR = 0.94, CI = 0.89-1.00, p = 0.063).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although acne patients on antibiotics are about 2 times more likely to develop URTIs, their household contacts do not appear to be at an increased risk of URTI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania Center for Education and Research in Therapeutics, Philadelphia, PA, USA. wpbowe@gmail.com
authors.forename: Whitney P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Bowe
authors.forename: Ole
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hoffstad
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Margolis
mesh_terms: D000152:Acne Vulgaris / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000209:etiology / Q000635:transmission; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000209:etiology / Q000635:transmission*; D012189:Retrospective Studies