Adult penicillin allergy programmes in Australian hospitals: a practical guide from the National Antibiotic Allergy...

Area of Science:

• Clinical Medicine
• Infectious Diseases
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Penicillin allergy labels pose significant burdens on patient care, prescribing practices, and hospital outcomes.
• There is growing interest in penicillin allergy testing, or delabelling, to mitigate these negative impacts.
• Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programs are exploring allergy testing to improve antibiotic prescribing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the incorporation of penicillin allergy testing into antimicrobial stewardship programs.
• To assess the utility of point-of-care penicillin allergy assessment and direct oral challenge for low-risk phenotypes.
• To provide guidance for AMS clinicians on implementing penicillin allergy delabelling programs.

Main Methods:

• Focus on point-of-care penicillin allergy assessment.
• Utilizing direct oral challenge for patients with low-risk allergy phenotypes.
• Leveraging guidance from the National Antibiotic Allergy Network.

Main Results:

• Penicillin allergy testing, including direct oral challenge, is being incorporated into AMS programs.
• Point-of-care assessments and direct oral challenges are feasible for low-risk patients.
• Guidelines are available to support the implementation of these programs in Australian hospitals.

Conclusions:

• Penicillin allergy delabelling is a valuable strategy for AMS programs.
• Direct oral challenge is a safe and effective method for penicillin allergy assessment in selected patients.
• Implementation of penicillin allergy testing programs can improve patient outcomes and prescribing.