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<a href="http://viral-money-machine.com/article/EPIDEMIOLOGY-OF-CUTANEOUS-DRUG-REACTIONS/" target="_blank">Get Paid to Submit Article like "EPIDEMIOLOGY OF CUTANEOUS DRUG REACTIONS"</a><br /><br />Although the true incidence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is difficult to quantify, there is abundant evidence that cutaneous drug reactions (CDRs) are among the most frequent adverse events in patients receiving drug therapy. In a study examining the incidence of CDRs in spontaneous ADRs reported in Italy, over 30% of all reported ADRs were cutaneous in nature (2). This is higher than other studies, where CDRs comprise 10 to 20% of reported ADRs still a substantial fraction of all reactions (3). Differences in methodology for data collection (e.g., spontaneous reporting versus chart review) may explain the variability in reported frequencies.<br /> Among all hospitalized patients, the incidence of CDRs has been found to range from 1 to 3% (3). Numerous risk factors, including infection with the human immunodeficiency virus, infectious mononucleosis, female sex, and age, have been identified (1,3). The highest reported frequency of CDRs has consistently been found to be with antimicrobial agents, for which there is also limited data regarding the incidence of CDRs in ambulatory patients. In a population of 13,679 Dutch patients who received a prescription for an antimicrobial agent, the frequency of CDRs was approximately 1% (4). The most frequent reactions were observed in patients receiving a trimethoprim-sulfonamide combination (2.1%), fluoroquinolones (1.6%), and penicillins (1.1%). A higher frequency of CDRs (7.3%) was recently noted in an ambulatory pediatric population receiving penicillins, sulfonamides, or cephalosporins (4). The percentage of children receiving cefaclor, sulfonamides, penicillins, or other cephalosporins who exhibited a rash during treatment was 12.3, 8.5, 7.4, and 2.6%, respectively. The odds ratio of development of a rash was higher in children less than 3 years of age than other groups (4).<br /> Determination of the true incidence of CDRs has been difficult to estimate due to imprecise diagnostic criteria. Causality assessment varies among reported studies and is limited by the ethical constraints of rechallenging patients with a drug that may evoke a life-threatening or seriously disabling reaction. As skin rashes can often occur in the presence of bacterial or viral infection in the absence of drug therapy, determination of causality in suspected CDRs with antimicrobial agents is especially problematic. Several studies have suggested that Bayesian approaches may serve as a useful aid in the differential diagnosis of a suspected CDR, but there is no "gold standard" against which to compare such methods for accuracy (5).<br /> Based on the frequency of drug ingestion and the incidence of CDRs for inpatients from the Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program, Levenson and colleagues (6) estimated in 1991 that 2.25 million patients in the United States experience CDRs each year. As the frequency of drug ingestion has significantly increased since that date, the anticipated number of patients experiencing such reactions is considerably higher than this previous estimate. Because it has recently been estimated that between 5 and 9% of all hospital costs are related to ADRs, CDRs clearly represent a significant burden on the health care system, in addition to being a frequent reason for cessation of otherwise effective drug therapy in patients (6).<br /> <br>Dr. Vic Albert. The director of wenyewe livelihood group www.4beta4worse.tk.where helping others help themselves is our pride. Find everything for free on www.jitafutie.tk and spare that money for a poor soul