ACTIVE serum sickness from drugs or sera will reveal itself by mild fever, joint pain, muscle pain, nerve weaknesses, skin eruptions (usually Urticaria or Hives) and tissue swelling. Nausea, Vomiting and abdominal pain may be present. It usually occurs several days (usually 7-12 days) after INJECTION of serum or after oral or injected forms of drugs, but can occur in a very short time if there has been repeated exposure to the serum or drug. Your lymph nodes may be enlarged near the site of the injection that precipitated the reaction. You may feel tingling in the nerve endings. If you have these symptoms then you may be suffering from a drug allergy or sensitivity!

A simple drug reaction may produce skin pigmentation or discoloration. A history of drug or serum administration, plus the characteristic symptoms and signs mentioned above, usually makes the diagnosis obvious. Do you know that the most common drugs to cause serum sickness are the penicillins and their analogues (relatives) but occasionally may include sulphonamides, phenlybutazone, sulfonylureas or thiazides amongst others?

False drug reactions, causing generalized symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, sweating, headache, rapid heart beat and dry mouth have occurred with worried people, should not be confused with serum sickness, and subsides fairly quickly.

This practical information is made available by the Allergy Centre. An Allergist can tell you if you have Drug Reaction, what it is, why you have it, how you can be tested for it, what you can do about it, the best treatment, whether you should be desensitised, the best medication to use, the best place to seek treatment and whether you can get a cure for Drug Reaction.

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