DELAYED SERUM SICKNESS REACTION TO PENICILLIN

Abstract

Although of infrequent occurrence, reactions to penicillin therapy occur with sufficient intensity to warrant their study and investigation. This report is concerned principally with the delayed serum sickness type of reaction which makes its appearance after the course of treatment has been completed. Penicillin, born into therapeutics amidst World War II, has only recently been released in sufficient volume to permit its general use among the civilian population. As its use becomes even more extensive, reactions which are of relative rarity at present will of course be encountered more and more frequently, presenting diagnostic and therapeutic problems with which the clinician should be familiar. INCIDENCE One of the great factors which has led to the popular acclaim of penicillin is its relative lack of toxicity. Unfavorable reactions of all types are infrequent, and a fatal reaction is yet to be recorded. This lack of toxicity was emphasized as one of