Background: Allergic rhinitis, conjunctivitis and urticaria are very frequent diseases during childhood and adult age. Second generation H1 antihistamine drugs are considered first-line treatment due to their efficacy and safety.
Objective: To assess the efficacy and adverse effects of mequitazine in the treatment of these diseases.
Material and methods: A bibliographic systematic review was done in order to identify the efficacy of mequitazine in the treatment of allergic rhinitis and chronic urticaria in pediatric population. This paper reviews the pharmacological features of this drug and summarizes the eleven articles that may serve as reference to review systematically in the population mentioned. Search sources were: Medline database via PubMed, Google and Cochrane Collaboration. Key words were: mequitazine, antihistamine drugs (safety, efficacy and adverse effects). Articles published in several countries with translations to English and Spanish were included. Studies were selected based on their relevance in the treatment of the diseases mentioned with the H1 antihistamine drug mequitazine. Articles were searched by title and abstract, then, the full text, from 1975 to 2006. Two researchers selected the articles for this review.
Results: We obtained 109 articles, from which 11 were first selected. Systematic review of articles demonstrated that mequitazine is effective and safe in the treatment of allergic rhinitis and chronic urticaria, their adverse effects are minimal and did not cause treatment cessation. Its efficacy and safety are comparable to those of other first- and second-generation antihistamine drugs.
Conclusions: Mequitazine is useful for the relieve of rhinoconjunctivitis and urticaria symptoms in more than 75% of patients; however, studies done so far have included only populations with adults predominance, thus, performing clinical studies in children is justified.