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Editorial
Delabelling penicillin allergy revisited
  1. Michael Wilcock,
  2. Daniel Hearsey
  1. Pharmacy, Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, Truro, UK
  1. Correspondence to Michael Wilcock, Pharmacy, Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, Truro, UK; mike.wilcock{at}nhs.net

https://doi.org/10.1136/dtb.2022.000068

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    Correcting (or delabelling) inaccurate penicillin allergy labels is an important component of antimicrobial stewardship.1 2 Over recent years, there has been greater recognition of the harms associated with having penicillin allergy wrongly noted in medical records, as well as development of tools to support delabelling initiatives.3 4 The proportion of incorrect penicillin allergy labels has been reported to be about 95% following subsequent testing.5 People who have a label of penicillin allergy are more likely to be treated with alternative antibacterials that have a broader spectrum of activity, which may impact on antimicrobial resistance patterns. In addition, there is growing resistance to last-line antibiotics, which is associated with a higher risk of mortality disproportionately affecting deprived or non-white populations, and increasing resistance to alternative antibiotics …

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    Footnotes

    • Competing interests None declared. Refer to the online supplementary files to view the ICMJE form(s).

    • Provenance and peer review Commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.