Rifampin-Associated Flu-Like Syndrome in a Patient Undergoing Treatment for a Device-Related Infection

Rifampin (or rifampicin) has found extensive use for the treatment of a variety of infectious illnesses, particularly tuberculosis and device-related infections. We describe the development of a flu-like syndrome in a patient undergoing extended antimicrobial therapy with rifampin for discitis and an associated device-related infection, which promptly resolved with discontinuation of rifampin. While the flu-like syndrome has been documented in prior literature covering the treatment of tuberculosis (where the dose regimen tends to be intermittent) there is less evidence for its occurrence in the treatment of device-related infections (which tend to be dosed daily).