Fungal Infections

Intravenous infusion of amphotericin B deoxycholate  frequently causes fever and chills, and sometimes headache, nausea, vomiting, hypotension and tachypnea, usually beginning 1 to 3 hours after starting the infusion and lasting about 1 hour. The intensity of these infusion-related acute reactions tends to reduce after the first few doses. Pretreatment with acetaminophen (Tylenol, and others) or aspirin, diphenhydramine (Benadryl, and others) 25 mg IV and/or hydrocortisone 25 mg IV can reduce the severity of the reaction. Treatment with meperidine (Demerol, and others) 25-50 mg IV can shorten the duration of rigors.