Azithromycin Eruption in Infectious Mononucleosis: A Proposed Mechanism of Interaction

The penicillin family of antibiotics may induce drug eruptions when prescribed to patients with infectious mononucleosis. Very similar phenomena have also been cited with other antibiotic families. We report the first case of a cutaneous reaction in a patient with infectious mononucleosis treated with azithromycin. We propose an immune-based hypothesis to explain the transient sensitivity resulting in this secondary cutaneous eruption.