If we go by the news headlines we tend to assume that most deaths due to anaphylaxis are caused by food reactions, followed by insect stings. But guess what. Food is the cause of only 6.7 % of those deaths, and insect stings cause only 15.2 % of them. So what's the real cause? Medications. Antibiotics and radiocontrast agents used in imaging scans lead the list.
Almost 60 % of deaths (58.8 %, specifically) are caused by medications. We take a big chance every time we check in to a hospital, because of issues such as this that few of us ever even consider. Almost 10 times as many people die from medication reactions as they do from food reactions. And yet what do we read about in the news? Food allergies and insect stings? Why is this?
And the most worrisome statistic is the fact that deaths from reactions triggered by medications have almost doubled over a recently-analyzed 12 year period. Why isn't the health care industry concerned enough about this to do something about it? Are they assuming that as long as this information stays out of the mainstream news, no one cares?
Fatal anaphylaxis in the United States, 1999-2010: Temporal patterns and demographic associationsResults
There were a total of 2458 anaphylaxis-related deaths in the United States from 1999 to 2010. Medications were the most common cause (58.8%), followed by “unspecified” (19.3%), venom (15.2%), and food (6.7%). There was a significant increase in fatal drug-induced anaphylaxis over 12 years: from 0.27 (95% CI, 0.23-0.30) per million in 1999 to 2001 to 0.51 (95% CI, 0.47-0.56) per million in 2008 to 2010 (P < .001)
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