You may not be allergic to penicillin after all.
National Penicillin Allergy Day has been instituted on September 28, the day penicillin was first discovered in 1928.
It’s meant to raise awareness on the impact of being labeled allergic to penicillin.
What is penicillin?
It’s one of the most vital antibiotics prescribed by doctors for a variety of conditions like skin, sinus, throat and ear infections. Penicillin is part of a family of antibiotics known as beta-lactams (such as Amoxicillin, Augmentin, Keflex, Ceftin), commonly used because it is often the best drug to treat infections, safe to use during pregnancy and breastfeeding, safe for children, and less expensive than similar drugs.
Some numbers:
- Statistics show that approximately 10%+ of the U.S. population has reported being allergic to penicillin
- Allergy to penicillin is the most commonly reported allergy to medications, which leads to a restriction of alternative choices, and the use of more expensive and less effective antibiotics to treat common infections.
- Less than 1% of the population is in fact truly allergic to penicillin. They may be able to take penicillin without any adverse reactions, either because they were never allergic, or because their allergy has been resolved.
- Allergic symptoms to penicillin range from a mild skin rash to a severe reaction called anaphylaxis, which can be fatal if not treated in time.
- The CDC recommends physicians to test patients for a true penicillin allergy before prescribing broad-spectrum antibiotics, the frequently used alternative to penicillin. “The use of these antibiotics for patients labeled as “penicillin allergic” is associated with increased risk for antibiotic resistance, […] and higher health care costs,” reports the CDC.
- Since many patients are self-diagnosed or have been wrongly diagnosed over the years, many people have been forced to use costly and less successful penicillin equivalent medications to treat their infections.
The American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI) recommends that
- Around 80% of patients who had an initial positive reaction and haven’t been exposed to penicillin for 10 years, may not experience another reaction if exposed again.
- Be cautious when choosing a physician for penicillin allergy testing to avoid inaccurate diagnosis and costly, ineffective drugs and treatments.
How do you get tested.
Request an appointment with one of our physicians
Testing usually takes about three hours to complete and it consists of two phases.
- First, the skin is pricked and injected with small amounts of penicillin to then observe for a reaction.
- Second, after the skin test is completed without a positive reaction, an oral challenge to either penicillin or amoxicillin is administered to confirm the patient can safely take the medication.
If a person has a negative skin test and no reaction to an oral dose of the antibiotic, they can then be safely classified as having no allergies to penicillin.
