Drug Allergy Alert System in a Spanish University Hospital: Description and Dynamics of Use.

INTRODUCTION: The drug allergy alert system reduces the frequency of adverse drug events, although it is subjected to collateral effects, since 80-90% of alerts are not real, and a large percentage of alerts are overridden (46.2-96.2%). We reviewed how the alert system is used at University Hospital Fundación Alcorcon (HUFA). METHODS: Data were obtained from the drug allergy alert and the alert overriding notification forms (both in the period 2011-20). We also recorded drug allergy diagnoses at HUFA, drug consumption in primary care in 2016. We calculated the incidence of drug allergy alert activation, temporal trends in use, and correlations between the number of drugs in several datasets. RESULTS: We collected 15,535 alerts. NSAIDs and penicillins were the drugs with the highest number of drug allergy alerts (36.55% and 26.91%, respectively). A correlation was found between the number of drug alerts and the type of drug allergy in HUFA in 2016. Only 6.83% of the alerts were removed, and, of these, 21.77% were reactivated. Approximately 100 overrides were recorded per year from 2016 (6.8% of 8,434 activated alerts during 2014-2020). CONCLUSIONS: The number of drug allergy alerts recorded via the drug allergy alert system of HUFA correlates with the distribution of drug allergy diagnoses in the hospital, although many of the alerts could be false positives (as per current published evidence). We detected a very low frequency of removed alerts (6.83%), a relevant frequency of reactivations (one quarter), and a very low frequency of overrides (6.8%).

Analysis of the Safety of Drug Allergy Workups in a Spanish University Hospital: Drug Characteristics, Type of Reaction, and Patients' Age at the Initial Assessment.

INTRODUCTION: The drug provocation test (DPT) is the gold standard for the drug allergy workup; however, it is not free from severe adverse reactions. Our aim was to obtain robust data that predict a reaction during or after the DPT at the first contact with the patient in the allergy outpatient clinic. METHODS: The population of this cross-sectional study comprised all patients undergoing a drug allergy workup (clinical assessment, specific IgE, or skin tests, or DPT) at University Hospital Fundacion Alcorcon in 2016. DPTs were performed until therapeutic doses were reached, and late reactions were checked. The clinical disorders assessed in our study were classified mainly as absence of allergic reactions, morbilliform rash, urticaria, anaphylaxis, and other cutaneous disorders. RESULTS: Physicians from the Allergy Unit programmed drug allergy workups in 977 patients (median age, 52 years; women, 64.54%). DPTs were not performed for 165 drugs involved in the reactions. Patients who did not undergo DPT were older than patients who did (positive or negative) (p = 0.0001). Positive DPT results were detected in 6.00% of DPTs performed, and most were for amoxicillin and metamizole (15-25% each). Multinomial logistic regression showed that positive reactions were more probable after DPT if the same clinical disorder was diagnosed at the first visit, including the episodes not considered allergic episodes (OR = 0.2, <0.01), except for anaphylaxis, which favored not performing DPTs (OR = 11, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: We conclude that clinical practice in the diagnosis of drug allergy in our Allergy Department is safe, without over-diagnosis.