Allergy-like immediate reactions with herbal medicines in children: A retrospective study using data from VigiBase(R)
Abstract
Background: The use of herbal medicines in children and the general population is continually on the rise with an overall herbal lifetime and current use ranging between 0.8%-85.5% and 2.2%-8.9%, respectively. Although acute hypersensitivity reactions are generally considered to be rare, little knowledge exists on the frequency and type of these reactions especially in specific populations like children.
Objectives: To assess the patterns of acute hypersensitivity reactions to herbal medicines reported to the WHO global individual case safety report (ICSR) database VigiBase(R) in children. Study design: From the original VigiBase(R) extract for the time between 1968 and 2014, we included all reports with adverse drug reactions (ADR) associated with herbal medicines in children where WHO-ART reaction terms were indicative of acute hypersensitivity reactions.
Results: VigiBase(R) contained 2646 ICSRs with 14 860 distinct adverse reactions reported in association with herbal medicine in children. Among those, 79 cases with 107 allergy-like reactions met our inclusion criteria.
The most commonly reported WHO-ART terms were urticaria or rash/rash erythematous (59.8%), and allergic reaction (8.4%). The most frequently reported suspected herbal medicines were mixed herbal products (51.4%), Hedera helix (15.0%), and Echinacea purpurea (5.6%).
Most frequent routes of administration were oral (75.9%), topical (8.9%), and rectal (3.8%). Over 30% of cases were reported in the age group from 7 to 12 years.
The majority of reports were received from Germany (29.1%), Thailand (21.5%), and Australia (11.4%). Conclusion: VigiBase(R) contains a considerable number of acute hypersensitivity reactions in children associated with herbal medicines, including life-threatening reactions such as anaphylactic shock.