Antabuse-Like Effect of β-Lactam Antibiotics

To the Editor: Neu and Prince 1 and Portier et al. 2 have described an "Antabuse" (disulfiram)-like effect in patients who drank alcohol while receiving one of the broad-spectrum antibiotics moxalactam 1 or cefamandole. 2 We recently consulted about a patient who had a similar reaction while under treatment with cefamandole. A 25-year-old woman was receiving 2 g of cefamandole every 6 hours for a wound infection. Three and one-half hours after an intravenous dose of the antibiotic, she began to drink a glass of Chablis. After four sips she immediately had severe flushing, palpitations, and shortness of breath. Physical examination was unremarkable except . . . No extract is available for articles shorter than 400 words.