1. The essence of the pathology and causes
2. Reactive Drugs
3. Symptoms and signs
4. Complications
5. Diagnostics
6. Treatment
7. Prevention

Allergy to drugs is a fairly common form of the reaction.

Every year the number of patients with this problem increases. Especially dangerous are the symptoms of allergies to medications in children, because their bodies are not yet strong and it is difficult for them to fight the disease.

The essence of the pathology and causes

Drug allergy is an increased immune response to the use of certain medications.

It is necessary to distinguish between true allergies and pseudo-allergies.

True allergies are a hereditary problem. The risk of inheritance in the presence of drug allergy in both parents is more than 50%.

Pseudo - allergy is a negative reaction to a large amount of the drug in the body, for example, with prolonged use or increasing the dosage. That is, there is an increased release of histamine without prior immunological reactions.

Causes of pseudo-allergy:

1. Reduced immunity due to cold or infection.
2. Long-term use of any drug.
3. Use of several incompatible drugs.
4. Excess dosage medication.

The reaction to drugs is of two types:

Predictable view. This includes:

• The negative effects of taking higher doses of the drug.
• Side effects stated in the instructions.

The unpredictable type is idiosyncrasy - hereditary intolerance due to the genetic characteristics of the organism.

You can learn about the symptoms and signs of food allergy in a child from our articles .

Reactive Drugs

Most often, allergic reactions can be triggered by taking antibiotics and antipyretic drugs.

Hormones and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs also cause a negative reaction . Among them:

• antibiotics penicillin;
• painkillers with analgin in the composition;
• anti-inflammatory drugs based on ibuprofen and diclofenac;
• hormonal means with dimedrol;
• aspirin-based antipyretic;
• vaccines;
• novocaine;
• vitamins.

It is proved that the drugs themselves are not allergens, but acquire such properties when combined with human blood albumin.

The result is the production of antibodies and their accumulation causes negative manifestations in the form of skin or respiratory reactions .

Very common is cross- allergy, or polyvalent allergy. This is a heightened reaction to products of different chemical composition.

The number of patients with such a problem is growing every year. Even more difficult cases of compatibility of allergies to drugs and food or other types of allergens: pollen , dust , mold , wool animals.

Symptoms and signs

How does an allergy to drugs in children appear and look like? A photo:

Sometimes it is difficult to identify allergies to medications in infants. Such small children cannot say what bothers them.

It is important to understand that the reaction to medications appears very quickly, usually within two hours after taking the drug. While food allergies can make themselves felt in a few days.

Symptoms of an allergic reaction in children under one year of age are:

• skin reactions in the form of a rash, urticaria , especially on the cheeks, buttocks and legs;
• diaper rash , not passing even with careful care;
• redness and swelling of the arms and legs.

The most dangerous respiratory reactions:

There may also be disorders of the gastrointestinal tract : diarrhea, flatulence, nausea, vomiting, feces with mucus.

In older children, allergies are usually manifested by skin and respiratory reactions.

In severe cases, systemic reactions may develop:

• stomach ache;
• confusion or loss of consciousness;
• discoloration of urine;
• pressure drop;
• swelling of the face, mucous membranes;
• asthma attacks;
• convulsions;
• angioedema;
• anaphylactic shock.

Anaphylaxis is the most dangerous manifestation of the reaction. At this time there is a violation of blood circulation, a critical decrease in blood pressure and respiratory failure.

In this situation, the countdown goes on for minutes; in the absence of emergency care, death can occur.

Complications

Drug allergies have very serious consequences .

In addition to instantaneous reactions (edema and anaphylaxis), the following diseases may develop:

• Bronchial asthma.
• Chronic rhinitis, sinusitis, sinusitis.
• Chronic otitis.
• Atopic dermatitis, psoriasis.

In addition, acute systemic reactions can be fatal.

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Diagnostics

The diagnosis begins with a survey of the parents of the child about what drugs he took, how long the first symptoms appeared. They take urine and blood for general analysis, examine blood biochemistry.

Then carry out a number of diagnostic activities:

1. ELISA. It identifies specific immunity reactions to medicinal substances. This method is very informative and safe for the patient. For the study you need only 1 ml of blood. The disadvantage of this study is the high cost of reagents.
2. Fluorescent method . With it, identify allergies to 92 drugs.
3. Provocative tests . Apply notches to the skin where the allergen drips. The body reacts with redness. The disadvantage of this method is its high risk to the patient, too high risk of developing anaphylaxis. Therefore, such a study is very rarely resorted to, when using other methods it was not possible to accurately determine the "culprit" reaction. This method is prohibited in acute allergies, once anaphylactic shock, pathology of the kidneys and liver, endocrine diseases. Also can not be held for children under 6 years.
4. Dosed provocation. This is a research method in which a suspected allergen is administered to a patient in minimal amounts. Then assess the condition of the patient within half an hour. If the reaction is not followed, then increase the dose. So there is the possibility of error-free diagnosis.

If a child has a reaction to a certain drug, then it is necessarily marked in his medical record.

Drug intolerance persists for many years, so re-taking the drug can lead to serious consequences.

Treatment

What to do? How to treat baby? Therapy depends on the severity of the reactions. If the symptoms are mild and the allergen is known, then the medication is stopped and the allergy disappears.

With more severe symptoms, special anti-allergic therapy is needed. To relieve symptoms prescribed:

1. Antihistamines . Drugs of the new generation do not have a hypnotic effect, cause a minimum of adverse reactions. The most commonly used: Claritin, Zyrtec, Zodak, Diazolin, Suprastin.
2. At the same time it is necessary to take sorbents for the rapid elimination of toxins and allergens from the body. Well help: Polysorb, Lactofiltrum, Filtrum, activated carbon.
3. To relieve pruritus and redness, antiallergic ointments or gels are applied to the affected areas: Fenistil, Psilo-balm, Advantan.

If the symptoms have not disappeared within 24 hours, then the administration of steroid based on prednisone is indicated.

While maintaining signs of allergy, even after treatment, intravenous systemic hormones (corticosteroids) are prescribed.

In the case of anaphylaxis or angioedema, the patient is placed in an intensive care unit where anti-shock measures are performed. In the future, you need hormone therapy and antihistamine drugs.

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Prevention

To avoid re-manifestation of drug allergies in a child is possible under certain conditions:

The last point is very important to prevent the occurrence of allergies in the child. It is proved that negative reactions, in most cases, are the result of self-treatment, uncontrolled medication, non-compliance with the dosage .

Dr. Komarovsky about drug allergies in children in this video: