This may result in dehydration. Most case series in the literature have not reported the race of patients with drug-induced pemphigus. A number of reports from Israel of drug-induced pemphigus occurring in Jewish persons of Ashkenazi origin suggest an ethnic predominance. No sex predominance appears to exist. In reported cases, patient age has ranged from the third to ninth decade.
Most patients develop the eruption a few weeks after starting therapy with the offending agent.
In penicillamine use, the eruption may not develop until 6 months after the onset of therapy. Some patients may give a history of a nonspecific eruption prior to the development of pemphigus type lesions. Disease caused by thiol drugs tends to present with the clinical findings of pemphigus foliaceus. Erythematous, scaly, crusted plaques occur primarily on the trunk. Occasional superficial vesicles and bullae may be seen, but usually, they are ruptured.