Clinical-epidemiological profile of severe cutaneous drug reactions in children in Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire)

Severe cutaneous drug reactions such as Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) are life threatening in adults. They seem to be less common in children. The purpose of this study was to describe the epidemiological, clinical and etiological profile of these drug reactions in African child. It was about a retrospective study carried on for 10 years at the Dermatology center of University Hospital of Treichville, Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire).Were included all children aged 0-15 years hospitalized for severe cutaneous drug reaction. They represented 14.1% (27 cases) with an estimated hospital rate of 0.01%. The sex ratio (M/F) was 1.2. The mean age was 10.3 years. 19 children were suffering from SJS (63%) and 9 children (33.3%) from TEN. Sulfonamides were the most commonly used drugs with sulfadoxin-pyrimethamin (25.9%), used for malariae, and cotrimoxazole (22.2%). Self-medication was practiced by 70.4% of parents. The average time to onset of lesions from drug intake was 8.2 days. Only one child was HIV infected. Three children affected by TEN (11.1%) died.