Prof. Dr. Bernhardt Sachs

Drug allergies depend on the individual characteristics of the patient and, unlike most other adverse drug reactions (ADRs), are therefore typically unpredictable. Although they account for a smaller proportion of all ADRs, some of these reactions, such as anaphylaxis or angioedema (swelling of the face), can be severe and potentially life threatening.
Due to their visibility, cutaneous ADRs are more easily recognized than ADRs in other organs. The clinical spectrum ranges from mild rashes to life-threatening diseases that lead to blistering and detachment of large areas of the skin. In addition, cutaneous ADRs can also indicate ADRs affecting other organs.
Dedicated pharmacovigilance topics refer for example to the occurrence of ADRs in particularly sensitive patient groups such as children or the elderly.
We address these topics by two methodological approaches, an experimental approach encompassing – among others – the analysis of peripheral blood cells from drug allergic patients in the lab, and a pharmaco-epidemiological approach in which we analyse ADR reports in large ADR databases.