Symptoms such as urticaria and pruritus during a transfusion indicate which type of reaction?

Urticaria and pruritus are symptoms that are specifically associated with allergic reactions during a transfusion. These symptoms indicate that the patient is experiencing an immune response to components in the donor blood, such as proteins or antigens, which the recipient's immune system recognizes as foreign.

Allergic reactions can range in severity from mild skin reactions, like hives (urticaria) and itching (pruritus), to more severe anaphylactic responses. In the context of a blood transfusion, the most common cause of these mild allergic reactions is usually related to the recipient's immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies reacting to allergens within the transfused blood components.

Other types of transfusion reactions are characterized by different symptoms. For example, febrile reactions are typically associated with fevers and chills due to pyrogens released from white blood cells. Acute hemolytic reactions, on the other hand, present with symptoms such as fever, back pain, and dark urine due to the rapid destruction of red blood cells. Circulatory overload reactions result in symptoms related to volume overload, like dyspnea and hypertension, rather than skin-related symptoms.

Thus, the presence of urticaria and pruritus during