Swelling and pain 2 weeks after a dog bite

(MRSA) infection presented to the emergency room with pain and significant swelling at the site of a dog bite on his left forearm. He had been bitten 2 weeks earlier by a friend’s dog, and the bite had punctured the skin. He also had red streaking on the skin of the left arm from the wrist to the elbow, and he reported feeling “feverish” and having night sweats.3At first, the bite had seemed to improve, then swelling and pain had developed and in-creased. He reported this to his primary care physician, along with the information that he had previously had an anaphylactic reaction to penicillin and a cephalosporin. His physi-cian, considering a penicillin allergy, started him on ciprofloxacin (Cipro) plus clindamy-cin (Cleocin). The patient took this for 5 days, but without improvement. The appear-ance of the red streaking on his left forearm prompted his presentation to our emergency room.■