Læknablaðið - 15.11.1997, Qupperneq 10
726
LÆKNABLAÐIÐ 1997; 83
Lyfjaofnæmi og lyfjaóþol
meðal 20-44 ára íslendinga
Faraldsfræðileg könnun
Halla Skúladóttir, Davíð Gíslason, Þórarinn Gíslason
Skúladóttir H, Gíslason D, Gíslason Þ
Allergic and pseudo-allergic reactions to drugs in an
Icelandic urban population 20-44 years of age
Læknablaðið 1997; 83: 726-30
Objective: Allergic or pseudo-allergic reactions to
drugs are common complaints. The symptoms vary
from mild to life threatening. Although the mecha-
nisms for most drug reactions are unknown or un-
certain such reactions are believed to be more com-
mon among atopic individuals.
Our goal was: 1) To estimate the prevalence of al-
lergic and pseudo-allergic drug reactions in a ran-
dom urban Icelandic population 20-AA years of age.
2) To search for the characteristics of symptoms and
which drugs were involved in such reactions, 3) their
association to atopy and atopic diseases and 4) to
find possible risk factors.
Material and methods: In the second stage of the
European Community Respiratory Health Survey
an urban population 20-44 years of age was invited
to participate. In Iceland altogether 545 answered
an additional question: Have you at any time had
allergic reaction to drugs? Those who answered yes
to this question were contacted later by telephone
and asked further about drug allergy.
Rcsults: Altogether 77 (14%) replied yes to the
question, more females (19%) than males (9%)
(p<0.001). Atopic individuals (with one or more
positive prick tests) and those with nasal allergies,
eczema, urticaria and illness caused by eating a par-
ticular food or foods reported allergic drug reactions
more often (p<0.05). IgE geometric mean value
was 17.5 kU/L for those who reported allergic drug
reaction compared to 12.6 kU/L among the others
(p=0.08). The most common symptoms associated
with drugs were skin symptoms (urticaria, angioneu-
rotic edema), symptoms from respiratory organs
Frá Vífilstaðaspítala. Fyrirspurnir, bréfaskipti: Davíð Gisla-
son, Vífilsstaðaspítala, 210 Garðabær, sími 560 2800.
and fever. With further inquiries by telephone 13/64
denied drug allergy. Thus 51/64 (80%) withheld
their questionnaire answers. Antibiotics were most
often blamed for drug reactions, followed by anaes-
thetics, NSAID and opiates.
Conclusion: There was a correlation between re-
ported drug reactions and atopy and/or atopic dis-
eases. The drug reactions were more than twice as
common in women as in men. The only comparable
study we know of, shows the prevalence of drug
reactions on the same level as in Iceland.
Ágrip
Inngangur: Kvartanir um lyfjaofnæmi eru
algengar og geta verið af ýmsum toga; allt frá
því að vera smávægileg óþægindi til lífshættu-
legs ástands. Þótt eðli flestra lyfjaviðbragða sé
óþekkt er talið að einstaklingar með bráðaof-
næmi (atopy) og/eða aðra ofnæmissjúkdóma
(atopic diseases) fái þau frekar en aðrir. Mark-
mið þessarar rannsóknar var: 1) að kanna
hversu algengt væri að þéttbýlisfólk á aldrinum
20-44 ára teldi sig hafa lyfjaofnæmi, 2) að
kanna hvaða einkenni og lyf tengdust meintu
lyfjaofnæmi, 3) að kanna tengsl lyfjaofnæmis
við ofnæmi og ofnæmissjúkdóma og 4) meta
áhættuþætti.
Efniviður og aðferðir: í öðrum áfanga rann-
sóknarinnar Lungu og heilsa var íbúurn á
Reykjavíkursvæðinu á aldrinum 20-44 ára
boðið til þátttöku. Spurt var viðbótarspurning-
ar um lyfjaofnæmi og samtals svöruðu 545
spurningunni: Hefur þú fengið ofnæmisein-
kenni af lyfjum? Nokkru síðar var aftur haft
samband við þá sem svöruðu spurningunni ját-
andi og þeir spurðir nánar um lyfjaofnæmi.
Niðurstöður: Sjötíu og sjö (14%) svöruðu
spurningunni játandi. Tvöfalt fleiri konur
(19%) en karlar (9%) töldu sig hafa lyfjaof-