Confirmation of drug allergy in a general pediatrics outpatient clinic

Studies including diagnostic workups on true drug allergy in children are limited.

To evaluate the frequency of confirmed drug allergy in children with a history of suspected drug allergy who had applied to the general pediatric outpatient clinics of our hospital owing to various health problems.

The history of drug allergy was asked among children who applied to the general pediatric outpatient clinics of our hospital. Allergy tests were performed to confirm drug allergy in children whose history was compatible with drug allergy.

In this study, parents of 5553 children aged between 4 months and 17.9 years were asked, "Has your child ever developed an allergy after drug use?" A total of 7% of the parents (n = 389/5553) thought that their child had a drug allergy. When these patients were evaluated by a pediatric allergist, it was suspected that 21.1% (n = 82/389) had a drug allergy. When diagnostic tests were performed for drug allergy, drug allergy was confirmed in only 4.2% (n = 3/72). Consequently, the frequency of drug allergy according to the history was 1.47% (n = 82/5553) in the population we studied, whereas the frequency of confirmed drug allergy was found to be 0.05% (n = 3/5553).

The patient or parent statements alone are not sufficient for the diagnosis of drug allergy in children. To confirm or rule out drug allergy, drug allergy tests must be performed so unnecessary drug restrictions can be avoided.