What organ of the human body is affected by baboon syndrome?

Baboon syndrome or symmetrical drug-related intertriginous and flexural exanthema (SDRIFE), is a systemic contact dermatitis first described by Andersen, Hjorth and Menneen in 1984. The term was initially introduced to diagnose those patients who, after contact with an allergen, suffered skin reactions in the gluteal region, similar in appearance to the red skin that baboons or mandrills have in that region.

At the beginning of its appearance, it was almost exclusively related to contact with mercury in previously sensitized people, but cases associated with exposure to other substances have also been described, such was the case of a 58-year-old patient who consulted for eczema in the groin, buttocks and axillae, was determined to be a baboon syndrome related to treatment with oral betamethasone ingested 48 hours earlier.

The most frequent cause is the breakage of medical thermometers, so the most common allergen involved is mercury. However, cases associated with exposure to various substances have been reported, including: nickel, roxithromycin, ampicillin, amoxicillin, salicylates, heparin, aminophylline, pseudoephedrine, terbinafine, immunoglobulins, topical corticosteroids, and even published a case secondary to pharyngeal infection by "Streptococcus pyogenes". The antigen can be contacted by ingestion, inhalation, percutaneously, or by injection.