Penicillin allergy checklist
Today is penicillin allergy (PA) day. The RPS working with its antimicrobial expert advisory group have produced a checklist for pharmacists to inform conversations with patients, who are also being asked to check their medical records to ensure not incorrectly labelled with PA.
Source:
Royal Pharmaceutical Society
SPS commentary:
In its press release, the RPS noted that around 6% of people have a penicillin allergy label on their medical record, equating to 4 million people in the UK, yet over 90% of patients are found not to have an allergy to it when fully assessed. It points out that being labelled allergic to penicillin is associated with a higher mortality rate of an extra 6 deaths per 1000 patients in the year following treatment for infection.