Many children suspected of being allergic to penicillin actually aren't
Staff Writer |
Many children suspected of being allergic to the inexpensive, first-line antibiotic penicillin actually aren't, new research indicates.
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The findings - which echo similar research earlier this year in adults - mean many patients are instead prescribed more expensive broad-spectrum antibiotics, experts said.
These alternatives can come with greater side effects and contribute to a rise in antibiotic-resistant infections.
"It's important to question this because it leads to a substantial increase in costs, for both families and the health care system, when we have to switch to a more broad-spectrum antibiotic," said study author Dr. David Vyles. He's an attending pediatric emergency medicine physician at Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
"We think many cases aren't a true allergic reaction," he added. "It substantially limits the type of antibiotics that can be prescribed."
More than 266 million courses of antibiotics were dispensed to outpatients in U.S. pharmacies in 2014, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This equates to more than five prescriptions written each year for every six people.
Vyles and his team analyzed questionnaires from nearly 600 parents of children aged 4 to 18 that described their child's reported allergy symptoms. The families came to an urban pediatric emergency department over a span of 19 months.
Just over 300 of the children had previously experienced low-risk symptoms for penicillin allergy, including rash, vomiting or diarrhea, according to parents.
Of those, 100 children were tested for penicillin allergy using a standard, three-part testing process.
This includes a skin test; an injection with a tiny amount of penicillin; and an "oral challenge" in which the child swallows a dose of penicillin under close medical supervision.
All 100 children tested were found not to be allergic to penicillin and had the designation removed from their medical record, the researchers said. ■