NATIONAL STUDY ON OUTLOOKS FOR DESENSIBILIZATION ACCIDENTS

A forecast study was done in France in order to determine the frequency, the nature, the causes and the consequences of accidents occurring during specific desensitization. Data was gathered on 155 accidents out of 151,997 injections made in 19,739 patients. The percentage of accidents was low, since it was altogether 0.1 per cent. However, it should be pointed out that the rate was higher for pollen desensitization (0.2 per cent), whereas it was practically null for desensitizations with other extracts (house dust, dermatophagoides, stinging insects, bacteria). Asthma, spasmodic rhinitis and urticaria were the most frequent manifestations of these systemic reactions (80 per cent of cases). In 59 per cent of cases, no obvious explanation could be found for them. The main causes recognized were the administration of excessive doses of extracts, a too long or too short interval between injections, or an improper injection technique. However, after appropriate treatment, desensitization could be continued in 90 per cent of cases. Thus specific desensitization, especially with delayed extracts, should not be considered dangerous, but should be carried out with precision and prudence since the errors committed while effecting it were responsible for 50 per cent of the accidents recorded. © 1979 Expansion Scientifique Française.