Antituberculous drugs
Riebel and Hesse were the earliest authors to draw attention to the aggravation of acne by isoniazid. In another study, five of seven patients were found to be slow inactivators of isoniazid. These five patients were aged between 32 and 48 years and the other two were younger. The clinical pictures consisted predominantly of blackheads and inflammatory papules.
An acneiform eruption, consisting of papules on the face, back and chest, appears to be a fairly common problem in Zambian men treated with rifampicin for urinary tuberculosis.48 Withdrawal of rifampicin led to disappearance of the lesions within three weeks. Halogenated drugs Halogen-induced folliculitis is now rare and differs from acne vulgaris in that no age is exempt. The eruption can be more widespread and comedones are rare but inflammatory lesions, especially pustules, are common and evolve rapidly. Iodides and bromides used to be the main cause of halogen-induced folliculitis, chlorine causing no acneiform eruptions at all. Iodides and bromides also commonly used to cause acne-like eruptions, especially exacerbations of preexisting acne.