The following is a summary of the “Confirmation of drug allergy in a general pediatrics outpatient clinic,” published in the December 2022 Allergy and Clinical Immunology issue by Capanoglu et al.

This study aimed to assess the prevalence of actual drug allergies among children who had previously presented to the general pediatric outpatient clinics at the institution to treat a wide range of symptoms. In addition, children applying to the hospital’s general pediatric outpatient clinics were surveyed about their families’ drug allergy histories. Finally, tests for the condition were conducted in children with a history suggestive of drug allergy. 

Parents of 5,553 children aged 4 months to 17.9 years were asked in this study if their child had ever developed a drug-related allergy. 7% of the parents (n = 389/5553) suspected their child was allergic to 1 or more medications. In addition, 21/2% (n = 82/389) of these children were suspected of having a drug allergy after being examined by a pediatric allergist. Only 4.2% (n = 3/72) of those tested were confirmed to have a drug allergy. 

Thus, the researchers found that 1.47% of the population they studied had a history of being allergic to drugs (n = 82/553), while only 0.5% had an actual diagnosis of an allergy to a specific drug. A child’s drug allergy cannot be diagnosed solely based on the patient’s or parent’s account. Performing drug allergy tests to either confirm or rule out a drug allergy is necessary to avoid overreacting to any potential drug reactions.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S108112062201729X