The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) have come up with a penicillin allergy checklist to ensure patient safety amidst issues of wrong diagnosis.
According to RPS, it is critical to know about the allergy status of patients to avoid dangerous reactions.
As per the 2019 data, nearly 6 per cent of England’s population are recorded as penicillin allergic, however, only less than 10 per cent of them truly have penicillin allergy.
Such wrong allergy status record forces people to avoid penicillin usage and makes the vulnerable to infections such as C. difficile and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
C. difficile is a bacterial infection of the colon due to the presence of Clostridioides difficile, causing diarrhea and colitis.
Whereas, MRSA is caused by a strongly antibiotic-resistant bacteria that often results in skin infections.
Know the symptoms:
- Penicillin allergy is displayed via IgE4-mediated anaphylactic reactions.
- Rashes with hives, wheezing, swollen skin or throat, etc. are some common non-dangerous signs of the allergy.
- The rashes could be flat, blotchy, and spread over days but do not change by the hour.
- Nausea and diarrhea are non-allergic side effects that are usually mistaken as allergy symptoms.
- However, a fatal anaphylaxis (life-threatening level of hives, swelling, or wheezing followed by blood pressure drop, dizziness or weak pulse) is a rare occurrence.
Risks involved with a penicillin allergy:
- Type 1 IgE-mediated penicillin allergy patients must be administered with (non-beta-lactam) antibiotic treatment.
- However, the chance of them reacting to other similar antibiotics varies based on the type of reaction and drug.
- The patients with penicillin allergy must be attended carefully as they have 14 per cent more risk of death.
- Once labelled allergic, patients often receive weaker or harsher antibiotics (like meropenem) for subsequent infections.
- Hospital patients with a penicillin allergy label tend to have worse outcomes and more complications.
- Penicillin-allergic patients display high rates of ICU admissions and death in case of a bacterial pneumonia.
- Most penicillin alternatives have serious side effects.
- Replacing penicillin increases the risk of C.difficile and MRSA superbugs.
Penicillin reactions are mostly non-life threatening.
However, a misdiagnosis or carelessness could turn the allergy deadly.
With the issue of penicillin allergy being misreported as penicillamine allergy by a few health professionals, it is necessary for the public to be aware of the allergy and its consequences.
