title: Prevalence of confirmed immediate type drug hypersensitivity reactions among school children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite drug-related hypersensitivity reactions are an important health problem, epidemiologic data on drug allergy and hypersensitivity are limited, and studies including diagnostic work-up are scarce. The aim of this study was to determine the actual frequency of immediate type drug hypersensitivity using diagnostic tests in school children with parent-reported drug allergies.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study involved three phases. The first phase is a survey of children with a mean age of 12.9 yrs attending grades 6-8 of primary schools with a questionnaire asking drug-related symptoms within 2 h of ingestion. The total population of sixth to eight grade school children was 210,000, and a sample size of 9096 was deemed to be representative of Ankara [(p) = 1.0%, α < 0.05, β = 0.8, (d) = 0.2.] During the second phase, a detailed clinical history was obtained by phone from the parents of children who had positive parent-reported drug allergy. The final stage of the study consisted of a detailed diagnostic work-up of children with a clinical history consistent with immediate type drug hypersensitivity reaction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 11,233 questionnaires were distributed, 10,096 of which were retrieved after completion by parents. The rate of parent-reported immediate type drug hypersensitivity was 7.87% (792 children). However, phone survey revealed a clinical history suggestive of drug allergy in only 117 children (1.16%). After further diagnostic work-up, the true frequency of immediate type drug hypersensitivity was 0.11%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that a positive clinical history is not enough to make a diagnosis of drug allergy, which highlights the significance of undertaking further diagnostic evaluation.
authors: Department of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Ankara Children's Hematology Oncology Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Mustafa
authors: M
authors: Erkoçoğlu
authors: Aysenur
authors: A
authors: Kaya
authors: Ersoy
authors: E
authors: Civelek
authors: Celal
authors: C
authors: Ozcan
authors: Banu
authors: B
authors: Cakır
authors: Aysegül
authors: A
authors: Akan
authors: Müge
authors: M
authors: Toyran
authors: Tayfur
authors: T
authors: Ginis
authors: Can Naci
authors: CN
authors: Kocabas
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004342:Drug Hypersensitivity / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D006969:Hypersensitivity, Immediate / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood; D007428:Intradermal Tests; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013689:Telephone; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D007073:Immunoglobulin E