Abstract
Background: Beta-lactam antibiotics are the most frequent drug
family to cause allergic reactions. Herein, we examined the frequency of
confirmed allergies to beta-lactam, as well as the sensitivity and
negative predictive value (NPV) of skin testing in an adult population
referred to a university allergy clinic in Switzerland.
Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of the clinical
records of patients who were investigated for a label of allergy to
beta-lactam (penicillin, cephalosporin or carbapenem) between January 1
st 2011 and December 31 st 2018.
Results: 582 patients were identified with a documented allergy
to beta-lactam and 477 patients were systemically investigated by skin
tests and/or drug challenge to confirm or rule out allergy. 262 patients
reported a history of immediate reactions, 137 of delayed reactions, and
114 of unknown reactions. 88 (18.4%) patients had confirmed to any
beta-lactam antibiotics; 64 (13.4%) with an immediate- and 24 (5%)
with a delayed-type reaction. Most frequently identified allergy was
penicillin (65 patients), followed by cephalosporin (21 patients) and
carbapenem (2 patients). NPV of skin tests for all beta-lactam were
97.7% and 92.5% for immediate- and delayed-type reactions,
respectively, and 96.3% and 92.1% when only penicillin was considered.
Systemic allergic reaction occurred in 0.6% of skin tests and in 3.1%
of drug challenges. Conclusions: Only 18% of patients with
beta-lactam allergy label have a confirmed allergy and non-allergic
patients can be safely delabelled through allergic workup based on skin
tests and drug challenge. This approach supports the policy of saving
second-line antibiotics through systemic allergy work-up.