Mononucleosis “ampicillin rash” is not as common as previously reported. A retrospective study in Israel of 238 hospitalized children diagnosed as having acute infectious mononucleosis based on positive Epstein-Barr virus serology found that, of 61 children treated with amoxicillin, 29.5% developed a rash, a significantly lower rate than the 90% reported in past studies (Chovel-Sella A, et al. Pediatrics. 2013;131[5]:e1424-e1427).
DR BURKE, section editor for Journal Club, is chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Saint Agnes Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland. He is a contributing editor for Contemporary Pediatrics. He has nothing to disclose in regard to affiliations with or financial interests in any organizations that may have an interest in any part of this article.
