Medicines Leading Cause of Allergic Fatalities
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Fuse/Thinkstock(HYATTSVILLE, Md.) — When people find out that someone has died from an allergic reaction, the first thought is often that it was due to food or an insect bite.
However, the truth is that almost 60 percent of deaths from anaphylaxis, a life-threatening type of allergic reaction, are from medicines, according to a report in The New York Times.
Researchers made this discovery after looking at a total of 2,458 cases of fatal anaphylaxis from 1999 through 2010 as compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics.
Furthermore, in cases where the medicine could be identified, half the time it was antibiotics that resulted in death. Another major culprit: drugs used use in imaging studies known as radiocontrast agents.
Meanwhile, allergic reactions to food were responsible for about 15 percent of deaths while insect bites accounted for 6.7 percent of fatalities.
It was also learned that older Americans are most susceptible to fatal anaphylaxis and that African-Americans are at greater risk of dying from allergic reactions to medicines and food.
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