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More than 10% of hospitalized patients have reported penicillin allergies, yet fewer than 10% of such patients have penicillin allergies confirmed when they are evaluated with skin testing and challenges. To evaluate the effect of penicillin allergy labeling on prescribing behavior, researchers reviewed data on 11,000 inpatients who received antibiotics at 106 U.S. hospitals in 2019.
About 16% of patients reported penicillin allergies. Among these patients, 64% received non–β-lactam antibiotics, compared with 48% of nonallergic patients; only 13% of patients with reported allergies received narrow-spectrum β-lactam antibiotics, compared with 30% of nonallergic patients. Among patients with penicillin allergies, clindamycin use was fivefold m…