WASHINGTON — When most people go to a hospital, a clinic, or even a new
doctor, they are asked about any allergies to medications. Ten percent say
they
are allergic to penicillin. But it turns out that they may have
outgrown that allergy years ago.
Studies released at a recent meeting of the American
College of Allergy, Asthma
and Immunology indicate that the great majority of people who think they
have a
penicillin allergy, do not.
The largest of the studies, conducted by researchers from the Mayo Clinic,
tested
384 patients who believed they were allergic to penicillin. A surprising 94
percent tested negative.
“That is a huge number,” says Dr. Rachel Schreiber, with Allergy and Asthma
Specialists in Rockville, Maryland.
She says penicillin allergies tend to only last about 10 years, and it’s a
good
idea to get retested from time to time. Schreiber says the testing is accurate
and easy and conducted in an allergist’s office, with results usually
available
the same day.
In most cases, a negative result means the patient simply outgrew the allergy.
But it can also mean that he or she was never really allergic to penicillin in
the first place, and the rash or inflammation that occurred after taking a
penicillin-based medication was really brought on by the infection the drug
was
designed to treat.
It’s one of those mysteries that allergists are actually pretty good at
figuring
out without too much trouble, opening the way for many patients to take
medicines
they once shunned. And that is a big deal, because the substitutes for
penicillin tend to be far more expensive, with more potential for side
effects.
“There are other antibiotics patients can use,” says Schreiber, “However,
penicillin is a fantastic drug, and a first-line agent for many kinds of
common
infections — for example, strep throat, sinusitis and ear infections.”
Penicillin has been around since 1928, and Schreiber calls it “an oldie but
goodie.” And while there are some people who will never be able to take
penicillin-based drugs such as amoxicillin, that number is quite small. And a
quick
visit to an allergist’s office for a skin test and related screenings is all
that
is needed to find out whether the allergy someone had as a kid has become a
thing of
the past.
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