Goal:

To describe a clinical case of a patient treated with amoxicillin (AMX) while he had a viral infection. In this case, medication error (ME) as well as adverse drug reaction (ADR) were detected.

Description of the clinical case: A 7-year-old, 23-kg male patient attended to the hospital with the following symptoms: fatigue, fever and swollen lymph nodes. Pharyngitis caused by bacteria was diagnosed and orally administration of AMX 50 mg/kg/day each 8 h was indicated. One day later, the patient returned to the hospital with skin rash throughout the body. An adverse event (AE) was noticed due to an error in the diagnosis, which was corrected and infectious mononucleosis (MI) was detected. AMX was suspended and remission of the rash was observed. A hospital pharmacist performed the imputation using the Naranjo algorithm (score 5-8) and notified to the Sistema Unificado de Farmacovigilancia of Cordoba.

Discussion:

Proper diagnosis of IM is essential to avoid inappropriate use of antibiotics when the patients present viral infections. In this clinical case, a ME occurred at the prescription, due to the incorrect diagnosis, and an ADR because of the use of AMX. The score obtained allowed us to classify this ADR as probable, and it could not be considered definite/proven because there was no re-exposure. However, the AE occurred after the administration of a suspected drug and there were no alternative causes to explain this reaction. In addition, the AE disappeared after suspending the AMX. This emphasizes the leading role of the pharmacist in promoting patient safety and the relevance of notifications.

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