What are the Most Common Severe Drug-Induced Anaphylaxis?

Image by James Heilman, MD from Wikipedia

Interesting paper came out listing the most common severe drug-induced anaphylaxis. From a database of 333 patients who suffered from anaphylaxis,

• Anaphylactic shock (76.6%)
• Severe systemic reactions (10.5%)
• Acute laryngeal edema (9%)
• Severe bronchospasm (2.1%)
• Fatal in 6 cases (1.8%)

There were 270 cases (81.1%) of ambulatory anaphylaxis. Sixty-three cases (18.9%) occurred during anesthesia.

84 drugs were identified as being responsible for these cases of anaphylaxis.

• Antibiotics (49.6%)
• Muscle relaxants, latex and anesthetics (15%)
• NSAIDS (10.2%)
• Tylenol (3.9%)
• Iodinated or magnetic resonance imaging contrast media (4.2%)
• Allergy shots and vaccines (3.9%)
• Other drugs (13%)

Among antibiotics, amoxicillin (97 cases), other penicillins (four cases), cephalosporins (41 cases), quinolones (15 cases), and pristinamycin (seven cases) were the most common.

Reference:
Severe drug-induced anaphylaxis: analysis of 333 cases recorded by the Allergy Vigilance Network from 2002 to 2010. Allergy. 2013 Jun 6. doi: 10.1111/all.12168. [Epub ahead of print]