THE INTRODUCTION of each new antibiotic offers a challenge to the clinical investigator to determine its value in the treatment of disease. To effect an impartial evaluation of the antibiotics in the treatment of dermatoses, a team of experienced dermatologists was formed in the Dermatology department at the University of Maryland. Diagnoses were confirmed in most cases by consultation with at least two other members of the team and, where indicated, by laboratory studies. Post-treatment observations were also confirmed by two or more of us. This same procedure had been applied to previously published reports on chlortetracycline (Aureomycin),1 oxytetracycline (Terramycin),2 and chloramphenicol (Chloromycetin).3 In our initial studies, we found erythromycin to be of value in the treatment of granuloma inguinale,4 and by local application, in the management of the pyodermas.5
Erythromycin is an antibiotic substance produced by an actinomycete which has