Department of Allergy and Immunology, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol. 2009 Aug;9(4):351-6. doi: 10.1097/ACI.0b013e32832db95a.
The prevalence of allergic disorders has more than doubled in the last two decades leading to increased community concern and anxiety, and unprecedented demand for allergy-specialist services. However, although allergic reactions are common, anaphylaxis is uncommon and fatal anaphylaxis is rare. This review examines recent developments in the epidemiology of anaphylaxis, focusing on new information that may assist in identifying those at increased risk of severe reactions and adverse outcomes.
Recent studies suggest an increase in prevalence of anaphylaxis in industrialized countries. Examination of the demographic characteristics of anaphylaxis has revealed potential approaches to better recognize those at greatest risk. Novel laboratory approaches to identify patients at increased risk of severe reactions have been suggested.
Increased knowledge of the epidemiology of anaphylaxis has provided insights into the characteristics of those patient groups most at risk of adverse outcomes. However, these characteristics have poor specificity and limited applicability for detection of at-risk individuals in the clinical setting. Further research is required to facilitate more accurate assessment of an individual's risk for anaphylaxis or fatal outcome. This would represent a major advance in clinical management and enable better allocation of existing healthcare resources.
在过去的二十年中，过敏疾病的患病率增加了一倍以上，这导致了社区的高度关注和焦虑，以及对过敏专科服务的空前需求。然而，尽管过敏反应很常见，但过敏反应并不罕见，而致命的过敏反应则很少见。本综述探讨了过敏反应的流行病学的最新进展，重点关注可能有助于识别那些有严重反应和不良后果风险增加的新信息。
最近的研究表明，在工业化国家，过敏反应的患病率有所增加。对过敏反应的人口统计学特征的研究揭示了更好地识别那些风险最大的患者的潜在方法。已经提出了一些新的实验室方法来识别有发生严重反应风险的患者。
对过敏反应的流行病学的更多了解，深入了解了那些最容易发生不良后果的患者群体的特征。然而，这些特征的特异性较差，在临床环境中检测高危个体的适用性有限。需要进一步研究，以促进更准确地评估个体发生过敏反应或致命后果的风险。这将是临床管理的重大进展，并能够更好地分配现有的医疗保健资源。
