Serum sickness-like reaction after the treatment of cellulitis with amoxicillin/clavulanate.

Serum sickness-like reaction is a rare disease presentation. We describe a case of a man aged 58 years who presented with acute-onset polyarthralgia, intense pruritus of hands and feet, fever to 39.5°C and leucocytosis to 17.2×103/mm3 5 days after completing a 10-day course of amoxicillin/clavulanate for the treatment of finger cellulitis. With history, symptoms, physical examination findings and reported cases in the literature of serum sickness-like reactions to amoxicillin, a clinical diagnosis of serum sickness-like reaction was made. The patient was treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatories with improvement in symptoms by the time of discharge.