Jump to content

Virus and Rosacea


Guide

Recommended Posts

  • Root Admin

274px-Rotavirus_Reconstruction.jpg
Rotavirus image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Virus and Rosacea has never, ever been ruled out as a cause. Cite one paper that concludes virus is not a cause of rosacea. Why can't you find any paper that states this?

Bacteria has been implicated in rosacea with a huge amount of clinical papers on this subject. Demodex is now without a doubt linked to a significant number of rosacea cases. At least one fungus has been associated with rosacea [1], and we have papers indicating treatment for one particular protozoa improves rosacea, however viruses have not been ruled out in rosacea, nor archea, for that matter. The human microbiome includes the skin which contains a number of different microbes, including virus. 

To help understand why virus should be considered in a differential diagnosis of rosacea which includes a very long list, take measles as an example, which most people do not associate with a virus. The medical name for measles is 'Measles Virus', [aka morbilli, rubeola, red measles, and English measles]. "Both rubella, also known as German measles, and roseola are different diseases caused by unrelated viruses."  "A red, flat rash which usually starts on the face and then spreads to the rest of the body typically begins three to five days after the start of symptoms." [9] There are other diseases that you may not be aware of that are caused by virus such as smallpox, polio, cowpox, and influenza, all of these diseases can appear with facial erythema. "Viral infections are responsible for some of the most common dermatologic presentations in adults such as oral and genital herpes, warts, and a wide variety of exanthems." [10]

There are other virus to consider that the symptoms include erythema or pimples on the facial skin, such as HIV, Herpes, Poxvirus, and this list continues. It is possible that a virus may be at the root of some cases of rosacea to consider and should be ruled out, but what physician considers ruling out virus in rosacea?  Without any doubt some virus diseases do indeed present with erythema as mentioned.  Could rosacea be caused by a virus? 

Virus and Rosacea

Virus are very tiny compared to other microbes, on average 100 times smaller than bacteria.* Viruses are in bacteria, demodex, fungus, archea, and throughout the human body in the blood, as well as human cells and comprise more number in the human body than bacteria by a factor of ten times. [2] Virus are in plants, animals, insects, fish, in the oceans, and comprise more number on planet earth than any other life form including all the animals on land or fish in the sea combined! [2]

There are scant few, if any, clinical papers on virus and rosacea. There are a huge number of clinical papers on bacteria and rosacea and if you can find any paper on virus and rosacea, please find the reply button and give the link to the paper! Wouldn't you think that a microbe that numbers ten times more as the bacteria in the human body deserves some kind of investigation as to whether virus has anything to do with rosacea? 

One theory on the cause of rosacea involves a disorder of the innate immune system [3] and one paper explains what happens: 

"Recognition of bacteria and viruses [bold added] initiates the inflammatory cascade involving the release of cytokines, recruitment of immune cells, and production of AMPs and ISGs. AMPs and ISGs represent one of the most important and robust immune mechanisms in the skin. However, pathogenic bacteria—such as S. aureus—and cutaneous viruses [bold added] have evolved mechanisms to counteract innate immune mechanisms."  [4]

Cytokines and Rosacea are being investigated and cytokines are released due to a virus response. 

As you can see from the above example which is typical, the focus is usually, if not always, on bacteria with a token mention of virus. Most, if not all clinical papers on rosacea rarely mention the word virus and focus mostly on bacteria. Our investigation found scant few papers that mention virus and rosacea which we list in the next subheading.  

Coronavirus and Rosacea

Clinical Papers Mentioning Virus Associated with Rosacea

"Granulomatous rosacea has been reported in children as well as adults, and in association with infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)." [5] Herpes Simple, a virus, has been associated with granulomatous rosacea. [6]

"Two months after the beginning of the anti-retroviral treatment, the patient developed a progressively extending facial eruption resembling rosacea." [7]

Human Herpes Virus

There are four Human Herpes Virus known that may have implications with rosacea which should be considered, since there are absolutely no papers ruling out human herpes virus and rosacea. They are Varicella zoster virus (VZV) (HHV)-3, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)/ HHV- 4, Cytomegalovirus (CMV)/HHV-5, and Human herpes virus type 6 (HHV-6). [8] If you are suffering with any of these viruses and also have rosacea you may want to ask your physician about antiviral treatment drugs. [8]

Bacteriophage

Scoll below for information on bacteriophage, a virus (third post). 

Anti-viral Treatments Shown Successful in Treating Rosacea

Ivermectin (also shown effective in treating rosacea)

Acylovir (papers about treating rosacea with Acylovir

Hydroxychloroquine is a novel therapeutic approach for rosacea (see also the fifth post in the current thread you are reading now). 

Hydroxychloroquine Suppresses LL37-induced Mast Cells

Imiquimod Cream [possible anti-viral treatment]  (read the fourth post in the current thread you are reading).

Conclusion

There are numerous clinical papers discussing the innate immune system reaction to rosacea and without a doubt, information about this subject enhances our knowledge on rosacea. However, because of a scientific bias towards bacteria ignoring virus (when virus has ten times more number in the human body than bacteria), this bias continues to influence and support more bacteria research on rosacea than researching virus. There needs to be more clinical studies done on virus and rosacea. Since virus has never been ruled out in causing rosacea, who would support such an investigation? Would you? Just think if 10K members of the RRDi each donated one dollar and insisted on supporting a reputable clinician to study virus and rosacea, what might be discovered? 

Reply to this Topic

There is a reply to this topic button somewhere on the device you are reading this post.  

End Notes

[1] Candida Albicans

[2] Number of different virus

"There are 219 virus species that are known to be able to infect humans."
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2012 Oct 19; 367(1604): 2864–2871.
Human viruses: discovery and emergence
Mark Woolhouse, Fiona Scott, Zoe Hudson, Richard Howey, and Margo Chase-Topping

"The results of a new study suggest that at least 320,000 different viruses infect mammals."
How many viruses on Earth?, Vincent Racaniello, virology blog

"...more than 6,000 virus species have been described in detail of the millions of types of viruses in the environment. Viruses are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth and are the most numerous type of biological entity."
Virus, Wikipedia

"There are more viruses than stars in the universe..."
National Geographic, April 15, 2020

 Human Microbiome, Brady Barrows

[3] Immune System Disorder Theory

[4] PLoS Pathog. 2018 Dec; 14(12): e1007353.
Innate antimicrobial immunity in the skin: A protective barrier against bacteria, viruses, and fungi
Margaret Coates, Sarah Blanchard, and Amanda S. MacLeod
Deborah A. Hogan, Editor

[5] The granulomatous reaction pattern
David Weedon AO MD FRCPA FCAP(HON), in Weedon's Skin Pathology (Third Edition), 2010

[6] JAAD, January 2015Volume 72, Issue 1, Pages e36–e37
Granulomatous rosacea manifesting after herpes simplex 2 infection: A case of Wolf's isotopic response
Kaitlyn N. Mula, DO, Nicole M. Cassler, MD, Jeffrey N. Lackey, MD

[7] Dermatology 2002;205:394-397
Ivermectin-Responsive Demodex Infestation during Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection, A Case Report and Literature Review
C. Aquilina, R. Viraben, S. Sire

[8] Four Human Herpes Virus May be Implicated in Rosacea
The 4 Common Viruses That Can Trigger Thyroid, Autoimmune, and Brain Problems, Dr. Will Cole

[9] Measles, Wikipedia

[10] Curr Dermatol Rep. 2020; 9(2): 152–165.
New Developments in Bacterial, Viral, and Fungal Cutaneous Infections
Samuel Yeroushalmi, Joshua Yoseph Shirazi, Adam Friedman

-------------------------------------------

*How Tiny Are Virus?
Some authorities say ever smaller. "Personally, I always liked the metaphor that if a cell was a baseball stadium, a virus is the size of the ball..."
So Just How Tiny Is a Virus? By Stuart Fox

"Viruses are usually 20 to 300 nm. That is as tiny as we- an average human being are to the Earth."
How tiny is tiny?, Neha Patil, The University of Melbourne

"Named after the Latin word for small – parvus – viruses in the Parvoviridae family are just 23-28 nanometres (nm) in diameter."
KEEPING UP WITH VIRUS TAXONOMY: SMALL VIRUSES, EXTRA SMALL VIRUSES AND A VIRUS USED TO PROTECT AGAINST FUNGAL DISEASE, by Laura Cox, Microbiology Society

"Most viruses vary in diameter from 20 nanometres (nm; 0.0000008 inch) to 250–400 nm; the largest, however, measure about 500 nm in diameter and are about 700–1,000 nm in length." Virus, Size and shape, Encyclopedia Britanica

________________________________

1 Millimeter (mm) = 0.1 Centimeter [or 1000 Micrometers (μm)] (one thousandth of meter)
1 Centimeter (cm) =  0.01 meter (one hundredth of a meter) [ or 10 Millimeters (mm)]
1 Micrometer (μm) = 0.0001 Centimeter [or 0.001 Millimeter (mm)] (or one millionth of a meter)
1 Nanometer (nm) = 0.001 Micrometer (μm) (or one billionth of a meter)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

I am already onto it.Yes we must do research on this theme to know more about viruses in rosacea. Infact I have been talking to so many researchers who work on skin microbiome in infection and diseases and share my research ideas with them. It would be a good idea to do such research on fresh theme.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Guide pinned this topic
  • 2 weeks later...
  • Root Admin

276px-Phage_injecting_its_genome_into_bacteria.svg.png
Phage injecting its genome into bacteria - image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Bacteriophage are a particular virus that are included in the human microbiome that "have been used for over 90 years as an alternative to antibiotics in the former Soviet Union and Central Europe as well as in France." Human Microbiome, Brady Barrows

Some researchers are trying to find foods that encourage bacteriophage to act as an antibiotic in the gut, for example, stevia, they say as the "most potent prophage inducer" and explains, "The ability to kill specific bacteria, without affecting others, makes these compounds very interesting."

"These findings are important. Scientists now know that the microbiome can influence our physical and mental health; it can also cause inflammation and increase cancer risk. If scientists can work out how to alter the microbiome in specific ways, they can, in theory, remove or reduce these risks."

Common foods alter gut bacteria by influencing viruses, MedicalNewsToday

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Root Admin

Imiquimod-cream-5-for-genital-warts_1024x1024.jpg

Mosquitoes and Virus and Imiquimod Cream

As noted in the post on Protozoa and Rosacea, treatment for malaria [protozoa] has improved some cases of rosacea using mepacrine, chloroquine, and hydroxychloroquine. An article published in Science Daily [1] points out, "There are hundreds of viruses spread by biting mosquitoes which can infect humans...At present, there are no anti-viral medicines and few vaccines to help combat these infections." The article discusses using a skin cream with the active ingredient imiquimod and reports, "By applying skin cream after a bite, researchers found that they could pre-emptively activate the immune system's inflammatory response before the virus becomes a problem. The cream encouraged a type of immune cell in the skin, called a macrophage, to suddenly spring into action to fight off the virus before it could spread around the body."

Wouldn't it be novel for 10K RRDi members to get together and each donate a dollar and then sponsor a clinical researcher to investigate if using imiquimod as the active ingredient might improve rosacea?  Do you think any pharmaceutical company or other rosacea non profit organization would ever investigate this? How do you get 10K RRDi members to come together and  all agree that this should be done? 

Maybe we might learn that some rosaceans somehow apply this imiquimod cream by diluting it with a moisturizer, coconut oil, shea butter, or something to see if this improves their rosacea. If so, then possibly, as this thread points out, could a virus be connected to rosacea?  

End Notes 
[1] Mosquito-borne diseases could be prevented by skin cream, Science Daily

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Root Admin

The president announced on March 19,2020 that hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil) has been approved by the FDA to treat COVID-19. As mentioned in the initial post in this thread, virus has never been ruled out in rosacea. CNN has a followup report on this

There is a paper that indicates using Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to treat rosacea "exerted satisfactory therapeutic effects on erythema and inflammatory lesions of rosacea patients, indicating that it is a promising drug for rosacea in clinical treatment." Duff Man told us about this a while back that it worked for him

Wouldn't it be incredible if any rosaceans who are treated with hydroxycholoroquine for COVID-19 also discovered that their rosacea improves or clears up! Is virus involved in rosacea?  If you do take hydroxycholoroquine and your rosacea improves, please let us know.

Coronavirus and Rosacea

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • Root Admin

Is it possible for Rosaceans to come together and sponsor their own independent research to investigate virus and rosacea?

I have been beating the drum for over seventeen years that rosaceans should come together and support their own independent research. It can be done, David Pascoe who owns the rosacea forum gathered rosaceans together and raised $16K to fund research back in 2005 with the RRF. TEA sponsors their own research independent of the skin industry. So it can be done. Wouldn't it be novel for rosaceans to get together and find 10K rosaceans who each donated one dollar and sponsored some researcher to investigate virus and rosacea?

PCR Tests
It is truly remarkable that researchers were able to make vaccines for the coronavirus in such a record amount of time considering how difficult it is to 'view' virus. I am not familiar with the PCR test so I googled it and there sure is a lot to know and understand. My search reveals that there are at least two 'PCR's, Real-time polymerase chain reaction also known as quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) and Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). I googled how much it costs and this paper gives you an idea of the costs associated with PCRs. From this, even if we got 10K rosaceans together, and everyone agreed we should research virus and rosacea, which would be a miracle in itself, and each donated one dollar, another incredible miracle, $10K wouldn't go very far in researching this subject. Looks like the skin industry will continue to be the sponsors of most of the research being done on rosacea. Watch my video on this subject.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use