Incidence Of Serum Sickness Research Articles

Incidence of serum sickness following Indian polyvalent antivenom therapy in a cohort of snake-envenomed patients in rural Sri Lanka

Introduction Serum sickness is a poorly reported delayed adverse reaction following snake antivenom therapy. We aimed to assess the frequency of serum sickness associated with administering Indian polyvalent antivenom in Sri Lanka. Methods We recruited patients from the Anuradhapura snakebite cohort who were admitted to a rural tertiary care hospital in Sri Lanka over one year period. Patients were interviewed over the phone 21 to 28 days post-envenoming to collect data on clinical effects: fever/chills, arthralgia/myalgia, rash, malaise, headache, abdominal pain, and nausea/vomiting. The presence of three or more symptoms between the 5th to 20th days after snake envenoming was defined as serum sickness. Results We were able to contact 98/122 (80%) patients who received antivenom and 423/588 (72%) who did not receive antivenom during the study period. The treated patients received a median dose of 20 vials (interquartile range: 20–30) of Indian polyvalent antivenom and of them, 92 (92%) received premedication. However, 67/98 (68%) developed acute adverse reactions to antivenom, including 19/98 (19%) developing anaphylaxis. Only 4/98 (4%) who received antivenom met the criteria for serum sickness, compared to none who did not receive antivenom therapy. All patients who developed serum sickness were envenomed by Russell’s vipers, were premedicated, and received VINS Bioproducts antivenom. Three of them were treated with hydrocortisone in the acute stage, as premedication or as a treatment for acute adverse reactions of antivenom. Although all four patients sought medical advice for their symptoms, only one was clinically suspected to be serum sickness and treated, while the others were treated for infections. Conclusions We confirmed that Indian polyvalent antivenom use in Sri Lanka is associated with high rates of acute adverse reactions. In contrast to studies of other antivenoms only a small proportion of patients developed serum sickness.

A single-center study of serum sickness caused by rabbit antithymosinglobulin therapy in children with acquired aplastic anemia

Objective To investigate the related factors of the serum sickness morbidity in the treatment of children with acquired aplastic anemia (AA) by rabbit antithymosinglobulin (ATG), summarize the clinical characte-ristics of serum sickness and evaluate the influence of serum sickness on the prognosis of AA. Methods The data of patients diagnosed as AA after treated with immunosuppressive therapy (IST) in Beijing Children′s Hospital, Capital Medical University, from March 2016 to December 2018 were collected, and the onset time, clinical manifestations, treatment, and prognosis of serum sickness were analyzed. Results A total of 48 cases were enrolled, with the median age of 5 years and 5 months (ranging from 2 years and 1 month to 15 years and 6 months), and the proportion of male to female was 1.4∶1.0, 75.0% of the patients(36/48 cases) developed serum sickness.The median onset time was the 11th day and 72.2% of the patients (26/48 cases) occurred from the 7th to the 14th day during IST.The 3 main clinical manifestations included arthralgia (63.9%, 23 cases), fever (52.7%, 19 cases) and rash (52.7%, 19 cases). There was no significant difference in peripheral blood leukocytes, neutrophils and lymphocytes between the patients with serum sickness and patients without serum sickness before IST and during serum sickness (all P>0.05). The incidence of serum sickness in children who received continuous glucocorticoid prophylaxis after IST (2/12 cases, 16.6%) was lower than that of those who did not (34/36 cases, 94.4%), and the difference was significant (χ2=29.037, P 0.05). Conclusion Children with AA are prone to develop serum sickness after IST treatment.The peak period of incidence of serum sickness is the second week during IST, and the main clinical manifestations of serum sickness include arthralgia, fever, and rash.There is no correlation between the incidence of serum sickness and the blood routine test before IST and during serum sickness.The incidence of serum sickness can be reduced by giving glucocorticoid prophylaxis, and glucocorticoid is still effective after the onset of the serum sickness.There is no correlation between the morbidity of serum sickness and the prognosis of AA treated with IST. Key words: Child; Aplastic anemia; Immunosuppressive therapy; Serum sickness

Incidence of serum sickness after the administration of Australian snake antivenom (ASP-22)

Context: Serum sickness is a delayed immune reaction resulting from the injection of foreign protein or serum. Antivenom is known to cause serum sickness but the incidence and characteristics are poorly defined. Objective: To investigate the incidence and clinical features of serum sickness following the administration of Australian snake antivenoms. Materials and methods: This was a prospective cohort study of patients recruited to the Australian Snakebite Project who received snake antivenom from November 2012 to March 2014. Demographics, clinical information, laboratory tests and antivenom treatment were recorded prospectively. Patients administered antivenom were followed up at 7–10 days and 6 weeks’ post-antivenom. The primary outcome was the proportion with serum sickness, pre-defined as three or more of: fever, erythematous rash/urticaria, myalgia/arthralgia, headache, malaise, nausea/vomiting 5–20 days post-antivenom. Results: During the 16-month period, 138 patients received antivenom. 23 were not followed up (unable to contact, tourist, child, bee sting) and 6 died in hospital. Of 109 patients followed up, the commonest reason for antivenom was venom induced consumption coagulopathy in 77 patients. An acute systemic hypersensitivity reaction occurred post-antivenom in 25 (23%) and 8 (7%) were severe with hypotension. Serum sickness occurred in 32/109 (29%) patients, including 15/37 (41%) given tiger snake, 6/15 (40%) given polyvalent and 4/23 (17%) given brown snake antivenom. There was no association between the volume of antivenom and serum sickness, p = 0.18. The commonest effects were lethargy, headache, muscle/joint aches and fever. Discussion: The incidence of serum sickness after snake antivenom in Australia was higher than earlier investigations which failed to define symptoms or follow-up patients, but similar to more recent studies of antivenoms in the United States. Conclusion: Serum sickness is common with Australian snake antivenom but does not appear to be predictable based on the volume of antivenom administered.

The Long-term Impact of Rituximab for Childhood Immune Thrombocytopenia

Rituximab administered at standard doses induces universal B-cell depletion. It shows good efficacy in patients with a variety of autoimmune diseases and has been licensed for use in rheumatoid arthritis. Despite prolonged B-cell depletion, side effects appear to be minimal. The use of B-cell depletion in children in whom the immune system is more immature may have other unknown complications, although the literature remains sparse. This review summarizes the available studies of rituximab in children with immune thrombocytopenia and assesses some of the short-term and potential long-term consequences of B-cell depletion. Overall, rituximab appears well-tolerated in children. The incidence of serum sickness may be higher than it is in adults, but infections remain infrequent and occur mostly in patients with an underlying predisposition to infections. Finally, although data remain limited, it is recommended to perform vaccinations before administration of rituximab or after B-cell return.

Severe Serum Sickness Reaction to Oral and Intramuscular Penicillin

Serum sickness is a type III hypersensitivity reaction mediated by immune complex deposition with subsequent complement activation, small-vessel vasculitis, and tissue inflammation. Although the overall incidence of serum sickness is declining because of decreased use of heterologous sera and improved vaccinations, rare sporadic cases of serum sickness from nonprotein drugs such as penicillins continue to occur. Drug-induced serum sickness is usually self-limited, with symptoms lasting only 1-2 weeks before resolving. We report an unusual case of a severe and prolonged serum sickness reaction that occurred after exposure to an intramuscular penicillin depot injection (probable relationship by Naranjo score) and discuss how pharmacokinetics may have played a role. Clinicians should be familiar with serum sickness reactions particularly as they relate to long-acting penicillin preparations. Accurate diagnosis in conjunction with cessation of drug exposure and prompt initiation of antiinflammatory treatment with corticosteroids can produce complete recovery

Repeated treatment with horse antilymphocyte globulin for severe aplastic anaemia.

In a single-centre study the feasibility and efficacy of repeated antilymphocyte globulin (ALG) for patients with severe aplastic anaemia (SAA) not responding to an initial ALG treatment or relapsing after initial response to ALG was evaluated. 139 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed SAA were treated with ALG between 1976 and 1995. 89 patients responded to a first course; 50 patients did not become transfusion independent. Of the 89 responders, 66 remained in remission, 23 relapsed. 43 patients received a second or subsequent course of ALG for failure to respond (n = 25) or relapse (n = 18) and were given a total of 53 courses. Acute reactions in the multiply exposed patients occurred during the first ALG treatment in 11 (26%) and during subsequent exposures in 16/53 courses (30%; P > 0.2). Incidence of serum sickness was 63% (27/43) after the initial course compared to 57% (30/53) after subsequent courses (P > 0.2), but clinical signs of serum sickness occurred earlier after repeated (median 6 d) as compared to initial exposure (13d; P = 0.008). Transfusion-independent haemopoiesis was achieved in 27/43 (63%) and survival probabilities for the 43 patients receiving multiple courses of ALG was 52 +/- 8% at 10 years. The probability of developing a late clonal disorder was 53 +/- 10% after multiple, as compared to 34 +/- 7% after single exposure (P = 0.15). No difference in results was observed between patients retreated for failure to first ALG or for relapse. ALG of the same species can be repeated without increased risks of side-effects in patients with SAA. A second or subsequent course of ALG from the same source can be effective when the first course has failed.

Studies on the Specific Mechanism of Serum Sickness

Abstract Passive serum sickness (1) is produced by the intravenous injection of 2–10 ml of S.S.C.S. into patients who 8 hours to 9 days before were injected with horse serum. If the S.S.C.S. is injected intravenously very soon after the patient received the therapeutic horse serum, passive serum sickness does not occur. To induce passive serum sickness, some time must elapse between the treatment with horse serum and the injection of the S.S.C.S. While attempting to determine the minimal duration of this period we noted that if the interval was 5–60 minutes, passive serum sickness did not occur. Neither did the ordinary serum sickness occur in the first four patients so treated, even though the incidence of serum sickness following the use of this lot of scarlet fever antitoxin without S.S.C.S. was quite high. These results prompted us to study the efficacy of S.S.C.S. in modifying and preventing serum sickness when both the horse serum and S.S.C.S. were injected simultaneously.