Intensive monitoring of adverse drug reactions in infants and preschool children

Summary

Intensive monitoring of adverse drug reactions (ADR) in infants and preschool children in the paediatric outpatient unit covering the town of Karlovac (150000 inhabitants) was performed over a period of three months. Data were obtained by physical examination of children and the history given by their parents. In all 2359 children were examined. ADR were recorded in 63 children and were reported to the National ADR monitoring centre in Zagreb. Using the algorithm of Hutchinson et al. (1979), all ADR were classified as “definite”, “probable”, “possible” and “unlikely”. Drugs were prescribed in 97.3% of children, 60.24% received an antimicrobial agent (43% of them on the basis of a sensitivity test), and an antipyretic was given to 1878 children, mostly paracetamol. ADR were most frequently caused by antibiotics (49 reactions to penicillin V, and 15 to amoxycillin) and secretolytics (7 reactions). ADR were followed by complete recovery and not a single child was hospitalized because of an ADR.

The results, when compared with the very small number of broadly comparable studies, indicate that the incidence of ADR in this population is rather small and of minor importance.