The frequency of low-risk morbilliform drug eruptions observed in patients treated with different classes of antibiotics.

Abstract

Antibiotics are among the most commonly prescribed medications worldwide but can lead to numerous cutaneous adverse events. Cutaneous adverse drug reactions can range from a common and low-risk morbilliform eruption to severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs) such as toxic epidermal necrolysis. In the hospital setting, patients often start a myriad of new drugs and may be on multiple antibiotics when the dermatologist is consulted. With the current lack of commercially available testing for delayed-type hypersensitivity reactions, etiologic confirmation is challenging. While the Naranjo and other standardized assessment criteria are available, complete scoring is often impossible in hospitalized patients. Further, multiple drugs may have been initiated at the same time point. Therefore, the prevalence of antibiotic-associated drug eruptions often is required to facilitate causality assessments. This review summarizes the prevalence of morbilliform eruptions for the most frequently prescribed antibiotics based upon systematic reviews, retrospective, and prospective analyses, with case series and reports providing other salient details.