Epidemiology and drug allergy results in children investigated in allergy unit of a tertiary-care paediatric hospital setting

The importance of clinical history in the diagnosis of drug hypersensitivity in children

BACKGROUND

In case of suspected hypersensitivity reactions (HRs) to drugs, a challenging area for pediatricians is detecting relevant elements in the parent-reported history, in order to reach a definite diagnosis. We analyzed the concordance between the description of the HR and the medical reports documented at the time of the event. Furthermore, we studied any correlation between clinical history variables and the prediction of true allergy.

METHODS

We retrospectively collected 50 charts of children referred to our Allergy Unit, after a previous access to the Emergency Department. We compared the description of the HR at acute phase to the history told by parents. Type and timing of the HR and culprit drug were classified as "known" or "unknown." The diagnosis was confirmed or excluded at the end of the investigations. Logistic regression analysis was performed to find any significant association.

RESULTS

The type of the HR was known in 74%, the timing in 28%, and the culprit drug in 98%. We showed that having had a severe HR had an increased odds of remembering the timing; being older >6 years and having had an immediate HR had an increased odds of remembering the type; time to diagnostic was lower in patients whose parents remembered the type of HR.

CONCLUSION

Our paper underlines the importance of an accurate anamnesis at the time of the event. Providing the physicians with a standardized Case Report Form could be a useful tool to simplify the diagnostic work-up and minimize mistakes due to lack of memory.

Beta-lactam allergy and drug challenge test in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Most cases of beta-lactam allergy in children are likely to be mislabeled. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of true positives, as determined by drug challenge tests, and the rate of false negatives in children with suspected allergies and confirm the safety of the drug challenge test.

METHODS

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis according to established procedures. Study participants were children with suspected beta-lactam allergy who underwent a drug challenge. PubMed MEDLINE, Dialog EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, and clinicaltrials.gov were searched from inception until March 5, 2021.

RESULTS

The pooled prevalence of (a) positive results in the first challenge was 0.049 (95% CI, 0.041-0.057; I² = 71%) from 78 studies; (b) serious adverse events was 0.00 (95% CI, 0.00-0.00; I² = 0.0%) from 62 studies; and (c) positive results in the second challenge after the first negative result was 0.028 (95% CI, 0.016-0.043; I² = 38%) from 18 studies.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of children with suspected beta-lactam allergy with true-positive results and false-negative results from the drug challenge test was very low. Serious adverse events resulting from drug challenge tests were also very rare.

IMPACT

Most children with suspected beta-lactam allergy were likely to be mislabeled. Serious adverse events caused by the drug challenge test were rare. Few false-negative results were obtained from the drug challenge test.

Drug Allergy in Children: What is the Actual Frequency of Drug Allergies?

Objectives

Drug hypersensitivity reactions are immunologically mediated reactions resulting in the production of drug-specific antibodies and/or T-cells and constituting only <15% of all drug reactions. Based on the clinical observations, both patients and their parents refer to any undesirable drug reactions as drug allergy, regardless of whether the underlying mechanism is immunological or not. After allergy examinations, only a small percentage of the patients who were reported positive for drug reactions based on their clinical history are actually confirmed to have hypersensitivity. This study aims to determine the actual frequency of drug allergies in children, the drugs that cause the most common allergies in patients with a complaint of drug allergy and evaluate the accompanying demographic and clinical features.

Methods

The study evaluated data from a total of 266 patients (ages of 0-18) with suspected drug allergy during a 3-year period. Twenty-four patients with doctor-diagnosed drug-related anaphylaxis and 85 patients who did not accept diagnostic tests were excluded from the study and the study continued with a total of 157 patients. The allergy work-up consisted of in vivo and in vitro tests, in accordance with the recommendations of the ENDA/EAACI guidelines.

Results

Data from a group of 157 patients (M [54.6%]; F [45.4%]) were retrospectively analyzed. Beta-lactams (BLs) were the most common drugs involved in the reported clinical history followed by non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Allergic reactions occurred on the median 1st day (min: 1-max: 8) after drug intake and were most frequently observed as urticaria (55.3%). Immediate reactions (IRs) were observed in 53.5% and non-IRs in 46.5% of the patients.

Conclusion

Our data demonstrated that only 15.5% of patients confirmed to be positive to allergy during testing which is in line with the data in the literature. An allergy work-up is mandatory for excluding suspected hypersensitivity.

Diagnosing Single and Multiple Drug Hypersensitivity in Children: A Tertiary Care Center Retrospective Study

Drug hypersensitivity reactions (DHRs) are a type of adverse drug reactions with heterogeneous pathophysiological mechanisms and a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations. Since over-diagnosing is common in children, a complete allergy work-up is needed. A cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care institution, covering the five-year period. Five hundred and four patients of both sexes, mean age 7.5 and with a medical history suggestive of DHR were evaluated. ENDA/EAACI guidelines were used for a diagnostic algorithm. Single drug hypersensitivity was registered in 375 patients and multiple drug hypersensitivity in 129. The main culprits in medical history were antibiotics (83%), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (8.4%) and analgoantipyretics (3.8%). Skin involvement was registered in 96.2%. DHRs were confirmed in 4.4% patients-six patients had positive skin tests and 13 had a positive drug provocation test. In the proven DHRs group, the main agents were antibiotics (72.7%), followed by NSAIDs (8.3%), and of all the skin manifestations, urticaria was most common (78.2%), followed by exanthema (10.5%) and angioedema (5.3%). Considering the above, anticipating DHRs and a proper referral of children to an allergologist is a key step in the assessment of drug hypersensitivity. A complete allergy work-up prevents unnecessary drug exclusion and allows most children to safely continue the use of first-line medications when needed.

When toothache results in asthma diagnosis

Local anesthetics (LA) have been used for a wide variety of procedures over the years due to their analgesic effect. These drugs have been seen to cause adverse events in the pediatric population, but an actual allergy must be in question. A case of an apparent hypersensitivity reaction to LA used in the setting of dental procedures in a 14.5-year-old girl with a forgotten history of asthma was reported and medical documentation review was performed. After treatment with LA during several dental procedures, the patient presented the shortness of breath, malaise and fainting, which then resolved spontaneously. After proper history taking, and skin and provocation tests, the patient was diagnosed with bronchial asthma and emotional sensitivity. The patient's recommendation included using an antihistamine and controlling her asthma before the use of LA, and administering the drug in a supine position. It is essential to consider all possible etiologies of an adverse event after using drugs in the pediatric population and to perform proper testing before making the diagnosis of a drug allergy.

Patterns of response and drugs involved in hypersensitivity reactions to beta-lactams in children

BACKGROUND

Beta-lactams generate different allergenic determinants that induce selective or cross-reactive drug hypersensitivity reactions (DHRs). We aimed to identify the drugs involved, the selectivity of the response, the mechanism, and the value of the different diagnostic tests for establishing a diagnosis in children evaluated for DHRs to beta-lactams.

METHODS

Prospective study evaluating children aged under 16 years reporting DHRs to beta-lactams. Reactions were classified as immediate and non-immediate reactions. The workup included sIgE, skin testing, and drug provocation tests (DPTs) for immediate reactions and patch testing and DPTs for non-immediate ones.

RESULTS

Of the 510 children included, 133 were evaluated for immediate reactions and confirmed in 8.3%. Skin test/in vitro IgE contributed to diagnosing half of the cases. Selective reactions occurred with amoxicillin (63%), followed by common penicillin determinants (27%) and cephalosporins (0.9%). Among non-immediate reactions (11.4% of the 377 children evaluated), most required DPTs, 52.7% of which were positive at 6-7 days of drug challenge. Selective reactions were identified with amoxicillin (80%), penicillin G (7.5%), cephalosporins (7.5%), and clavulanic acid (5%). Urticaria and maculopapular exanthema were the most frequent entities.

CONCLUSIONS

There were few confirmed cases of either type of reaction. Skin testing proved less valuable in non-immediate reactions, over half of which would also have been lost in a short DPT protocol. Selective responders to amoxicillin were more likely to have non-immediate reactions, while clavulanic acid selectivity was exclusive to the non-immediate typology. Over half the cases with DPTs required 6-7 days of treatment for DHR confirmation.

Is the clinical manifestation of anaphylaxis in children influenced by the trigger of reaction?

INTRODUCTION

The number of anaphylaxis diagnoses in children is rising, being still based on the clinical picture.

AIM

To determine whether triggers of anaphylaxis influence its clinical characteristics in children and adolescents.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study group included 114 children (5 months-17 years, mean age: 8.0 ±4.8 years), (66%: boys) with the episode of anaphylaxis up to 1 year back. Medical data were entered to the NORA Registry by means of a validated structured on-line questionnaire.

RESULTS

Three most frequent triggers of anaphylaxis were: insect venom (47.4%), food (35.1%), drugs (5.3%), with a predominance of food (egg white, cow's milk, nuts and peanuts) in the 0-6 years age group, while insect venom (bee predominance) in the 7-17 years age group (p = 0.016). Clinical manifestations differed between food vs. venom allergic reactions and presented as gastro-intestinal (GI) (61.4%) (p = 0.004), respiratory (RS) (93.9%) (p = 0.036), and cardiovascular (CVS) (74.6%) (p = 0.022) symptoms. Among objective symptoms, vomiting was the most common symptom in the 0-2 years age group (47.1%) (p = 0.006), while hypotension in those aged 7-12 years (40%) (p = 0.010). Severity of symptoms evaluated as Mueller's grade (IV - 74.5%) and as Ring and Messmer's grade (III - 65.8%), depended on the trigger (p = 0.028, p = 0.029, respectively). Life-threatening symptoms occurred in 26 children (fall of the blood pressure - 22%, loss of consciousness - 4.4%).

CONCLUSIONS

The clinical manifestation of anaphylaxis in children is both trigger and age dependent, irrespective of the gender. A typical patient with food anaphylaxis was younger, presenting predominantly GI symptoms, while a typical patient with venom anaphylaxis was older, with mostly cardiovascular symptoms.

Model Based Evaluation of Hypersensitivity Adverse Drug Reactions to Antimicrobial Agents in Children

Drug use in children is-in most cases-supported by extrapolation of data generated from clinical trials in adult populations. This puts children at higher risk of developing adverse drug reactions (ADRs) due to "off-label" use of drugs and dosing issues. Major types of ADRs are drug hypersensitivity reactions, an idiosyncratic type of ADRs that are largely unpredictable and can cause high morbidity and mortality in a hard-to-identify specific population of patients. Lack of a complete understanding of the pathophysiology of DHRs and their unpredictive nature make them problematic in clinical practice and in drug development. In addition, ethical and legal obstacles hinder conducting large clinical trials in children, which in turn make children a "therapeutic orphan" where clear clinical guidelines are lacking, and practice is based largely on the personal experience of the clinician, hence making modeling desirable. This brief review summarizes the current knowledge of model-based evaluation of diagnosis and management of drug hypersensitivity reactions (DHRs) to antimicrobial drugs in the pediatric population. Ethical and legal aspects of drug research in children and the effect of different stages of child development and other factors on the risk of DHRs are discussed. The role of animal models, in vitro models and oral provocation test in management of DHRs are examined in the context of the current understanding of the pathophysiology of DHRs. Finally, recent changes in drug development legislations have been put forward to encourage drug developers to conduct trials in children clearly indicate the urgent need for evidence to support drug safety in children and for modeling to guide these clinical trials.

Drug Allergy in children: focus on beta-lactams and NSAIDs

Drug hypersensitivity reactions (DHRs) are adverse reactions to a drug. In children, most common drugs inducing such reactions include beta-lactams (BLs) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). The aim of the present work was to provide current knowledge on the management of DHRs in the pediatric population, focusing on BLs and NSAIDs hypersensitivity. The clinical feature of DHRs include immediate and non-immediate (delayed and accelerated) reactions, that may be severe or non-severe. A systematic approach to the patient based on the reported clinical history is essential to organize a safe and adapted allergy work-up. Skin tests are the first step to assess a possible DHRs, especially in immediate reactions to BLs. Drugs concentrations for these tests are standardized and validated. The drug provocation test remains the gold standard to reach a firm diagnosis. In selected cases, a therapeutic desensitization protocol may be proposed in children with a confirmed diagnosis of drug hypersensitivity. Clinicians should be aware of the diagnostic and therapeutic options, to provide the best management in children having experienced a history of DHR. (www.actabiomedica.it)