History of chickenpox and steroid cards: a new warning?
BMJ 1996; 312 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.312.7030.542 (Published 02 March 1996) Cite this as: BMJ 1996;312:542
- M D Feher, lecturera,
- J P Simms, senior pharmacistb,
- A F Lant, professora
- a Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, London SW10 9NH
- b Pharmacy Departments, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London SW10 9NH and Kings College Hospital, London SW3 6LX
- Correspondence to: Dr Feher.
- Accepted 11 October 1995
National steroid cards were designed to inform patients treated with corticosteroids of the dose and potential hazards of treatment. Recent reports of severe chickenpox associated with steroid treatment1 2 have highlighted a potential need to amend the current steroid card. In May 1994 the Chief Medical Officer wrote to all doctors in the United Kingdom regarding the hazards of exposure to chickenpox.3 With this background, we asked patients taking oral steroid treatment about the information they had received from their doctors.
Patients, methods, and results
Between September and November 1994 all patients who presented to the outpatient pharmacy of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital with a prescription for oral prednisolone were interviewed. Patients completed a standardised questionnaire asking their age, whether they carried a steroid card, if they had had chickenpox, and their doctors' instructions …