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.

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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