2023-10-23 19:30:00
Do you think you have been allergic to penicillin since your childhood? This is probably false, according to an international study, which reveals that 95% of cases are wrong. A simple questionnaire can help you find out if this is your case.
Most often, penicillin allergy was diagnosed very early in life due to a baby’s skin rash following absorption of the drug, and was never questioned.
“This situation can lead to treatment failures, unjustified hospitalizations and a significant increase in health care costs,” indicates the first author of the study, Dr. Ana-Maria Copaescu, associate researcher in the Program in infectious diseases and immunity in global health at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center.
Courtesy
The scientific study published in the prestigious journal JAMA on July 17 and conducted in three countries concluded that only one of 382 adults who believed they were allergic to penicillin was actually allergic and that a rapid test might allow false positives to receive treatment with this very effective antibiotic.
From childhood
It is often from early childhood that the misunderstanding sets in… never to be questioned once more therefollowing. “It is true that many cases of penicillin allergy are confused with simple side effects of the drug at the first dose,” confirms Dr. Caroline Quach, pediatrician at CHU Sainte-Justine.
MARTIN ALARIE / JOURNAL DE MONT
Sometimes severe skin irritations and diarrhea, for example, can be consequences of the absorption of a new molecule without being a symptom of an innate allergy.
Additionally, among people truly allergic to penicillin, 80% eventually lose sensitivity to the drug following ten years.
Antibiotic resistance
Daniel Thirion, professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Montreal and specialist in infectious diseases, points out that the phenomenon is not new. A simple questionnaire (see below), like the one used in the study, is generally sufficient to check whether there is an allergy. “Many people who are asked when their last allergic reaction was are not able to remember it, or even to mention a specific effect,” he maintains.
In his opinion, this misunderstanding has numerous impacts not only at the individual level (less effective and often more toxic remedies, hospitalizations, etc.), but also in terms of antibiotic resistance. “This is a very important problem in our hospitals, and one that continues to grow,” he points out.
Unfortunately, the phenomenon of false allergies to penicillin “is not well known among general practitioners and the general population,” says allergist Copaescu.
sweetflower – stock.adobe.com
Antibiotic resistance
Please note: the study included patients from Canada and Australia who suffered from the most common form of allergy, not the most severe cases. Jason Trubiano, director of infectious diseases and the Center for Antibiotic Allergy and Research at Austin Health, Australia, who led the team, said in a statement that the new approach will “prescribe the beneficial antibiotic that is penicillin to more than 90% of patients who take the test.
Discovered almost a century ago, in 1929, penicillin remains one of the best antibiotics available in pharmacies.
Penicillin allergy represents a public health concern, with one in ten patients reported to be allergic. However, the Quebec Public Health Research Institute has no expertise on the subject, and rejected our interview request.
The three pen-fast questions
Please assign a score to each of the following questions.
1. Have you had a reaction to penicillin in the last five years? No (0) Yes (2 points)
2. Have you experienced any of the following: anaphylactic shock, angioedema, or severe skin reaction? No (0); yes (2)
3. Did the reaction require treatment? No (0) yes (1)
See also:
1698101853
#allergic #penicillin #international #study
