Anaphylaxis admissions in pediatric intensive care units: Follow-up and risk of recurrence

Background: Data about the risk of anaphylaxis recurrence in children are lacking. We assessed anaphylaxis recurrence and medical follow-up in a cohort of children previously hospitalized in a French pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) for anaphylaxis.

Methods: We conducted a telephone survey of 166 children (≤18 years) hospitalized from 2003 to 2013.

Results: In all, 106 (64%) completed the survey (boys, 59%; mean age [SD]: 15.3 years [5.5]). The main index triggers were drugs (45%) and foods (37%). The mean duration follow-up was of 7.7 years (SD: 2.4). Thirty-eight (36%) children experienced 399 new allergic reactions during a follow-up period of 282 patient-years (incidence rate: 1.4/100 patients/y; 95% CI: 0.64-2.04). Twelve children experienced 19 anaphylaxis reactions including five requiring PICU admission (anaphylaxis recurrence rate: 0.20/100 patients/y; 95% CI non-calculable). Food was the trigger for 79% of recurrent reactions and drugs for 8%. The food trigger was previously known in 83%, the same as the index trigger in 69%. Overall, 1.5% of the recurrent reactions were treated with adrenaline injection and 8% an emergency hospital admission. Patients with recurrence had more likely a history of food allergy (P < 10^-4 ), asthma (P < 0.005), atopic dermatitis (P < 0.05) than those without. 31% of the 50 children with food allergy did not see an allergist, 23% had no adrenaline auto-injector, and 26% lacked a school individual healthcare plan.

Conclusions: Following a PICU admission for anaphylaxis, recurrence is high in children with food allergy compared with drug allergy. Allergic comorbidities increase the risk. Medical follow-up has to be improved for these at-risk children.