(WYTV)- If your doctor told you a long time ago that you are allergic to penicillin, it may be worth getting tested again.
New research shows that very few of us are allergic to it.
Penicillin is probably one of the most common antibiotics, a first-line treatment for a lot of different types of infections. If you really can’t take penicillin, it does restrict what antibiotics you can get, for example, to treat strep throat or an ear infection.
“About 10% of the general population has a listed penicillin allergy listed in their electronic medical record. But what we know from our guidelines and our allergy literature is that greater than 90 to 95% of these patients that have a listed allergy, when they come in for an evaluation, we find that they can actually tolerate penicillin,” said Dr. Ruchi Shah of the Cleveland Clinic.
When children are sick, their threshold for developing a rash or swelling is lower. That can make it hard to know if it was the antibiotic that caused the reaction, the sickness, or both.
If you are interested in getting tested for a penicillin allergy, any allergist should be ready to help you.
