SHEELA Nair, 30, a company secretary in Kuala Lumpur, is allergic to penicillin, aspirin and paracetamol (also known as Panadol). Every time she falls ill, she has to go to her family physician.

If she visits a doctor who does not know her condition, she will be prescribed drugs that can lead to severe allergic reactions.

"My eyes would swell and I would suffer breathing difficulties."

For almost five years, she had to endure this agony as doctors did not know what medication to give her.

Then, 10 years ago, she saw a physician in Klang who gave her drugs which did not trigger any allergic reaction.

Azura Shamsuddin, 29, who is allergic to paracetamol, said she saw her company panel clinic doctor three years ago when she had a fever. The doctor gave her paracetamol although she had made it clear that she was allergic to it.

"He told me to take half the pill so that I wouldn't have a severe allergic reaction. I just couldn't believe my ears. I left the clinic and threw away the medication."

In Malaysia, doctors are now seeing more people becoming allergic to certain food and drugs.

According to the Malaysia Society of Allergology and Immunology, allergy is becoming a serious problem as one in three Malaysians suffer from it, including eight per cent of children who suffer from food allergy or intolerance. By 2020, half the population is expected to have allergy problems.

Director-General of health Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said people could experience adverse or allergic reactions to just about any medication, although some were more common than others and drug reaction was sometimes mistaken for allergies.

For example, he said, people who experienced stomach discomfort after taking aspirin often said they were "allergic" to aspirin.

"However, this is not a true allergic reaction. True allergic reactions involve activation of the immune system by the drug. Aspirin can cause stomach discomfort because it interferes with the stomach's natural barrier defences against stomach acid. Allergic reactions to a drug are relatively uncommon."

He said reactions to medication could be due to host factors, gender, race and age, or the patient could develop a reaction to the active ingredient of the medication or its excipients, such as colouring agent, preservative and flavouring agent.

"Patients may be at greater risk of suffering from an adverse event if a wrong medication is supplied and consumed, but there have been instances where a patient develops an adverse or allergic reaction even after having been prescribed the correct medicine."

He said doctors must ask their patients whether they had any known drug allergies before prescribing a drug.

When prescribing a drug, they must weigh the possible risks against the expected benefits.

Dr Ismail said the occurrence of adverse events from medication could be prevented if patients were aware of any reactions or unusual symptoms that developed after taking medications prescribed or bought over the counter for minor ailments.

"It is the patient's responsibility to report any medication events and describe the reaction in the best way they can to their doctors or pharmacists so that it can be documented properly.

"A good patient medication history will aid healthcare providers in making the right decisions towards instituting safe and rational therapy."

He said doctors and pharmacists should inform patients of the possible side-effects of the prescribed medications for better patient understanding and management.

"Patients are encouraged to seek professional advice if they have any doubts about the safety of the medications they are taking."

He said people who had severe allergic reactions could be issued an allergy card which should be carried at all times and shown to their healthcare provider.

"Patients can also subscribe to a medic alert tag in the form of necklace or bracelet inscribed with their drug allergies. This information (for example, penicillin allergy) can alert medical and paramedical personnel in case of an emergency."