Delayed onset of pseudomembranous colitis after rifampin therapy

Rifampin therapy is an infrequently reported cause of pseudomembranous colitis. A low index of suspicion may account for this lack of recognition. Awareness of this potentially hazardous complication of rifampin therapy is encouraged, especially since increasing numbers of patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, who may have diarrhea from other etiologies, require rifampin therapy.