History of chickenpox and steroid cards: a new warning?

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. Even though the true prevalence of imm...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMJ 1996-03, Vol.312 (7030), p.542-543
Main Authors: Feher, M D, Simms, J P, Lant, A F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chickenpox
Corticosteroids
Dosage
Drug dosages
Health hazards
Hospitals
Patients
Pharmacies
Physicians
Side effects
Steroids
Warnings
Writing tablets
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Summary: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. Even though the true prevalence of immunity to varicella in patients who are uncertain of previous chickenpox infection may be high, 2 there is a clear risk for those who do not have antibodies to varicella. 1 2 The universal omission of advice regarding exposure to chickenpox in those patients within the present survey who had no recall of having had chickenpox reinforces the need for written instructions regarding potential severe adverse reactions with steroids. 3 4 Patient information leaflets detailing drug precautions have been included by the manufacturers in only a limited number of steroid preparations but are due to be included with all steroid preparations as part of the Medicines Control Agency's patient pack initiative.
ISSN:0959-8138
1468-5833
1756-1833
DOI:10.1136/bmj.312.7030.542