Serum Sickness Secondary to Fluoxetine

Abstract

Drug-related cutaneous eruptions are common, affecting approximately 2-3% of hospitalized patients, and can vary in severity from benign to life-threatening. Understanding the pathophysiologic mechanism of the eruption is important for being able to identify the culprit drug and develop an appropriate treatment plan. We present a unique case of serum sickness that presented with a pruritic dermatitis associated with arthralgias and hypocomplementemia, observed shortly after initiation of fluoxetine.