Quinine Allergy Symptoms

Approximately 41 percent of the world's population lives in areas prone to cases of malaria, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Each year, over 1 million people worldwide die from this infectious disease. Doctors rely upon a prescription medication know as quinine sulfate to treat malaria. Though quinine is effective, it has the potential to cause adverse reactions in some patients, including allergies.

Causes of Reactions

• An allergy to quinine usually begins with your first dosage, though it usually presents no side effects. When quinine enters your bloodstream, your body mistakes it for a foreign threat and produces antibodies. Doctors refer to this as sensitization. Often one dose is enough to cause a reaction, but it may take many doses before any adverse events occur. During this time, your body continues to build antibodies against quinine. Eventually, the presence of quinine in your bloodstream triggers a response from your immune system, which releases chemicals like histamines to battle the perceived threat from the drug. This is when symptoms of your quinine allergy begin.

Types of Symptoms

• There are a number of common symptoms that occur in response to a quinine allergy. Gastrointestinal symptoms include diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal cramping. Many patients experience respiratory and cardiovascular effects like high-pitched sounds when breathing, coughing, wheezing, difficulty breathing, nasal congestion, shortness of breath and heart palpitations. Others report neurological or psychological symptoms, such as anxiety, confusion, fainting, lightheadedness dizziness, and slurred speech. Other possible symptoms include the appearance of red welts on your skin, itching and swelling of the face.

Risks

• In some cases, the symptoms of a quinine allergy indicate a considerable risk. It is possible to lose consciousness and experience anaphylactic shock due to the reaction. Severe swelling of the extremities and throat, known as angioedema, occurs in some patients. Another possible reaction is a potentially life-threatening skin condition known as Stevens-Johnson syndrome, which causes painful blisters to form in your eyes, mouth and nose accompanied by shedding of the skin. A similar condition that is possible due to quinine allergy is toxic epidermal necrolysis. Additional symptoms of this skin reaction include the appearance of red patches where skin has fallen off to reveal raw tissue, as well as a high fever and the spread of skin rash to your genitals.

Treatment

• The treatment for a quinine allergy is similar in nature to steps commonly taken in response to an overdose of the drug. Doctors typically begin with a shot of epinephrine that halts the actions of the immune system. Activated charcoal may also be administered, sometimes after pumping of the stomach. Prescription-strength diuretics may also be used to remove levels of quinine from your body. Infrequently, kidney dialysis is necessary to completely eliminate the drug from the body.

Considerations

• If you have ever experienced an allergic reaction to mefloquine, you are likely to be allergic to quinine as well. Additionally, if you develop a shortage of white blood cells, hemolytic-uremic syndrome or Blackwater fever while taking mefloquine or due to a previous experience with quinine, you are at an increased risk for an allergic reaction to the drug. Because quinine allergies often progress very rapidly, it is important to seek medical attention at the very first sign of symptoms.