Many studies over the years have demonstrated
that over ten percent of patients will report
penicillin allergy when they come in to the
doctor's office or the hospital.
But when we look at these patients and see
how many could actually tolerate penicillin
or amoxicillin or similar medications, over
ninety percent of these patients can actually
tolerate these medications under certain circumstances.
So many patients will think that they do have
a penicillin allergy because perhaps they
took the medication and then developed an
itchy rash or other problems after taking
the medication, but we know that majority
of patients even if they were allergic at
one point in time, over a ten-year period
of time will actually outgrow that allergy.
Or perhaps there was another set of circumstances
where they weren't actually allergic but developed
that rash for another– due to another reason
or cause.
One unique opportunity that we have as allergists
is to talk with patients about what exactly
happened when they took penicillin or amoxicillin
when it occurred and if they've had any similar
medications since that reaction.
Based on that history, and then using some
testing that we can do in the office, vast
majority of the time we're able to rule out
a ongoing penicillin allergy and we actually
can take that allergy off of a patient's allergy
list and really open up the doors to first
line treatment options for many common infections
that require these medications such as sinus
infections, pneumonias, urine infections,
things that we encounter from a day-to-day
basis.
And this is going to be really important as
we move forward and think about all of the
things we hear in the media about antibiotic
resistance and and really opening up the first
line treatment options as you move forward
and go through our day-to-day lives and encounter
infections that require antibiotic treatment.
