herx
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Alternative form of herx (“Jarisch–Herxheimer reaction”).
verb
To experience a Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction, a negative reaction to antibiotic treatment.
Informal
Example Sentences
- "These usually last for several hours, and require little more than aspirin and bed rest. Yet many Lyme newsgroup participants write about a "herx" beginning days or weeks after the start of antibiotic therapy, and "herxing" for weeks at a time -- often in a cyclic fashion."
- "When using any antimicrobial against any Lyme-like infection, most patients will herx at some stage."
- "Has anyone else herxed intensely even on low dose fenben? I started with 150mg and herxed, backed down to 70mg and still herxed along with my 100mg doxy."
- "For quotations using this term, see Citations:herx."
Etymology
Shortened from Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction, which in turn derives from the names of Adolf Jarisch and Karl Herxheimer, physicians who separately described the reaction in syphilis patients.