ANTIBIOTIC HYPERSENSITIVITY REACTIONS DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF ANTIBIOTIC ALLERGY

ABSTRACT

Allergic disease manifests itself primarily through three target organs, the respiratory tract, the skin and the gastro-intestinal tract. Exposure to the external environment is common to all these organs. The word allergy was derived from Greek word ‘alol’ meaning change/altered and ‘ergos’ meaning reactivity. Allergy was recognized in modern era after John Bostock’s description of ‘catarrusaestivus’ or hay fever in 1819. Studies suggest that over 20% individuals worldwide suffer with IgE mediated allergic diseases such as asthma, rhino conjunctivitis, eczema, and anaphylaxis (Linhart and Valenta, 2005). The incidence of allergic diseases has increased over the past two decades in many countries. Allergies manifest as mild reactions to life threatening systemic reaction (anaphylaxis). These diseases occur due to complex interplay of various immune cells, which is initiated upon exposure of predisposed individual to normally innocuous triggers called allergens. At the first exposure, allergen(s) induce the formation of antibodies belonging to class ‘IgE’. Subsequent exposure to allergen sets off a cascade of events leading to inflammation, hyper reactivity and manifestation of allergic disease. Such specific ‘IgE mediated reactions’ to environmental substances/allergens are termed as ‘Type I Allergy’ or ‘immediate hypersensitivity’.

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