Diagnosis and management of the drug hypersensitivity reactions in Coronavirus disease 19: An EAACI Position Paper

Allergy. 2020 Nov;75(11):2775-2793. doi: 10.1111/all.14439. Epub 2020 Jul 1.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a respiratory tract infection caused by a novel human coronavirus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, leads to a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations ranging from asymptomatic cases to patients with mild and severe symptoms, with or without pneumonia. Given the huge influence caused by the overwhelming COVID-19 pandemic affecting over three million people worldwide, a wide spectrum of drugs is considered for the treatment in the concept of repurposing and off-label use. There is no knowledge about the diagnosis and clinical management of the drug hypersensitivity reactions that can potentially occur during the disease. This review brings together all the published information about the diagnosis and management of drug hypersensitivity reactions due to current and candidate off-label drugs and highlights relevant recommendations. Furthermore, it gathers all the dermatologic manifestations reported during the disease for guiding the clinicians to establish a better differential diagnosis of drug hypersensitivity reactions in the course of the disease.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; desensitization; drug hypersensitivity reactions.

Publication types

  • Practice Guideline

MeSH terms

  • Academies and Institutes
  • COVID-19 / complications*
  • Drug Hypersensitivity / complications
  • Drug Hypersensitivity / diagnosis*
  • Drug Hypersensitivity / drug therapy*
  • Europe
  • Humans
  • Pandemics