Acute Infectious Urticaria: Clinical and Laboratory Analysis in Nineteen Patients

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Abstract
We treated 19 Japanese patients with acute urticaria presumably caused by infection during the five years from 1994 to 1998. The patients' ages ranged from 2 to 66 years (8 males and 11 females). Most of them had urticaria, angioedema, high fever, neutrophilia, and high serum levels of C reactive protein (CRP). The skin rash lasted more than 24 hours. In four patients, a flow cytometric analysis revealed that the percentage of circulating T cells bearing T‐cell receptor Vβ3 was decreased during the active stage and that this decrease was sustained for at least 2 to 3 weeks. This suggests that certain T‐cell populations were numerically altered in association with the occurrence of the disease. A retrospective review indicated that the combination therapy with corticosteroid and antibiotics was more effective than the single use of either agent.