Prescriptions for adrenaline devices in children are rising faster than anaphylaxis

Researchers have called for clarity on when adrenaline auto injectors (AAIs) should be prescribed for children with allergies and how many devices they should be given after finding that prescriptions have been rising faster than the incidence of anaphylaxis.

The doctors and health economists from the University of Birmingham identified 23 837 children in a general practice database as being at high risk of anaphylaxis and scrutinised the prescriptions they were given between 2000 and 2012. They reported the results in the British …