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Up to 15% of people in the U.S. are labeled as penicillin allergic. Such labels can have substantial medical effects, yet allergy diagnoses are frequently inaccurate. Now, researchers at a single medical center report developing a tool to ascertain those at low risk for penicillin allergy and then testing whether patients in the medical intensive care unit (MICU) with a low risk for allergy could be penicillin-challenged and have their allergy label removed.
The investigators developed the risk-stratification tool based on assessment of 318 patients in a drug-allergy testing clinic. A low-risk history consisted of urticaria to penicillin >5 years previously, a self-limited rash, gastrointestinal symptoms only, a remote childhood history, a f…