Description

Certain drugs have been associated with a serum sickness like reaction (SSLR).


 

Usually the patient has been taking the drug for several weeks or has been re-exposed to the drug following previous therapy.

 

The reaction may start after the causative drug has been stopped. This may occur if it has a long half-life or if the target antigen is a metabolite with a long half-life.

 

Findings implicating the drug:

(1) reversal on discontinuation of the drug (although this may take several days to occur)

(2) recurrence on re-exposure (which often is not done because of the potential risk to the patient)

 

Implicated drugs include

(1) 6-mercaptopurine

(2) bupropion

(3) carbamazepine

(4) cephalosporin

(5) clopidogrel

(6) fluoxetine

(7) fluroquinolone

(8) griseofulvin

(9) iron dextran

(10) itraconazole

(11) metronidazole

(12) minocycline

(13) N-acetylcysteine

(14) penicillamine

(15) penicillin

(16) propranolol

(17) recombinant human proteins

(18) rifampin

(19) rituximab

(20) streptokinase

(21) sulfonamides

(22) thiouracil

(23) ticlopidine

 


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