Allergies to antibiotics among US women with uncomplicated urinary tract infection

Uncomplicated urinary tract infections (uUTI) are generally treated empirically with antibiotics. However, antibiotic allergies limit the available oral treatment options for some patients. We assessed the proportion of self-reported antibiotic allergies among US women with uUTI. We performed a cross-sectional survey of US women (≥18 years) with a self-reported uUTI in the previous 60 days and an oral antibiotic prescription. Participants completed an online questionnaire about their most recent uUTI episode. Descriptive self-reported allergy data were stratified into subgroups by whether the participant had recurrent UTI (≥2 uUTIs in the past 6 months or ≥3 uUTIs in past 12 months, including the index episode), the number of different antibiotics given for the index episode (1, 2, ≥3), and whether the treatment was clinically aligned according to Infectious Diseases Society of America uUTI guidelines. Overall, 375 participants completed the questionnaire. The most commonly prescribed antibiotics were trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (SXT; 38.7%), ciprofloxacin (22.7%), and nitrofurantoin (18.9%). Most participants (62.7%) received only 1 antibiotic for their uUTI, and most (56.5%) were classified as having a non-recurrent uUTI. No antibiotic allergies were reported for most participants (69.3%), with 24.0% reporting 1 antibiotic allergy and 6.7% reporting ≥2 antibiotic allergies. Allergies to ≥2 antibiotic types were more common among participants classified as having recurrent uUTI, or who used multiple antibiotics to treat their uUTI. The most common allergy was to SXT (15.7%), followed by amoxicillin-clavulanate (8.3%) and ciprofloxacin (5.3%). Similar allergy trends were seen across subgroups, except higher rates of ciprofloxacin allergy were seen in participants given multiple antibiotics. Antibiotic allergies were relatively frequent in this uUTI cohort and the most common allergy was to SXT, which was the most prescribed antibiotic. Allergies to antibiotics reduce the available treatment options for uUTI in some patients.