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Published online: 21 July 2017
© Springer International Publishing AG 2017
Dear Editor,
We report a patient with rosacea who was completely symptom free during treatment with an antiviral drug, acyclovir. Rosacea is a chronic skin inflammatory disorder with a variety of signs and symptoms, including transient facial flushing, permanent erythema, telangiectasia, papules, and pustules. The pathophysiology of rosacea is poorly understood; however, a number of studies have indicated that dysfunction of the innate immune system and neurovascular signaling as well as excessive growth of skin microorganisms could have an effect in this skin disorder [1].
There is no curative treatment for this skin disorder. Topical and oral antibiotics are used to alleviate the symptoms and reduce the flares of rosacea. However, some of the symptoms, namely facial erythema, do not respond to antibiotic therapy [2]. Here, we report a patient with rosacea who was completely symptom free during two courses of treatment with acyclovir, which was prescribed for the patient's herpes lesions.
The patient was a 31-year-old woman diagnosed with mild-to-moderate erythematotelangiectatic rosacea 10 years ago. Her face, especially her cheeks, revealed redness, flushing, and visible blood vessels. The patient claimed that her symptoms were worsened by stress and exercise, eating particular foods (spicy foods, chocolate, cocoa, coconut, all sources of nuts), as well as exposure to sunlight or heat for prolonged periods. She received three rounds of topical and oral treatments prescribed by a dermatologist. In each treatment period, she received topical metronidazole gel, along with oral metronidazole and tetracycline for 3 months. She also consumed L-lysine supplementary tablets and applied different anti-redness cosmetic creams. However, her symptoms did not improve following use of these medical and cosmetic remedies.
In September 2016, the patient was diagnosed with a herpes simplex type 1 lesion on her chin, which was confirmed by culture. She had no history of previous herpes viral infection. Oral acyclovir (200 mg five times per day) was prescribed for 5 consecutive days. Interestingly, within the 5 days of...
