Giving antihistamines to children who experience anaphylaxis only endangers their lives by delaying emergency treatment, researchers reported. Instead, children should be administered epinephrine and go straight to the ED.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Evan Wiley, MD, a pediatric resident at Jacobi Medical Center in New York, and another colleague reviewed the medical records of children and young adults who were admitted to a community pediatric hospital between July 2015 and January 2019. They found that 72% of patients who first took antihistamines at home delayed seeking medical care compared with only 25% of those who did not take them. Patients who took antihistamines were more than seven times more likely to delay emergency treatment (OR = 7.45; 95% CI, 2.71-20.5), they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe most basic thing that providers need to do is make sure we\u2019re being really complete in our counseling,\u201d Wiley told Infectious Diseases in Children. \u201cMy experience has been that a lot of providers are very good about talking about using the epinephrine injector, and they\u2019re pretty good about talking about coming into the hospital, but I think it\u2019s actually pretty rare for physicians to be explicit about antihistamines as being something that\u2019s helpful for some symptoms like rash or itchiness, but not life-saving.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n