Antibiotic Allergy from the Perspective of Infectious Disease Physicians

Abstract

Antibiotics are the most common class of medications that patients reportedly become allergic to. The estimated rate of real antibiotic allergy varies widely in the literature (1, 2). A high number of allergic reactions are unconfirmed and often self-reported (3). Nevertheless, these patients are labeled as allergic to antibiotics. A label for antibiotic allergy in clinical settings changes the management of future infectious diseases for that patient. Infectious disease physicians have a key role in deciding the antibiotic of choice in hospitalized patients. The patient’s history of antibiotic allergy and the physicians’ knowledge of antibiotic allergy have an impact on the antibiotic management plan. It is therefore undeniable that labeling patients with an antibiotic allergy is an important issue in daily clinical practice. Antibiotic options for patients reporting an antibiotic allergy are very limited and many physicians prescribe broad-spectrum antibiotics, which may result in increased adverse events and antibiotic resistance (4). It is very important to diagnose antibiotic allergy correctly to come up with an effective treatment in suspected antibiotic allergy cases. All in all, to better understand infectious disease physicians’ management plans and knowledge of antibiotic allergies, it is important to implement a better and standardized algorithm for antibiotic allergic hospitalized patients in the future. The aim of this study was to determine the attitudes and experiences of adult / pediatric infectious disease specialists on antibiotic allergy management. Therefore, after getting approval from the local ethics committee (Koç University Ethics Committee, 2019.021.IRB2.010), a 20-item questionnaire in open-label and multiple choice formats has been developed and sent to members of The Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology Society of Turkey (KLİMİK) by using the society e-mail network. Specialists included adult and pediatric infectious disease specialists across Turkey who prescribe antibiotics for 30 or more patients per year. Out of 800 KLİMİK members who meet the inclusion criteria, 124 specialists and registrars practicing as adult (95%) or pediatric (5%) infectious disease physicians have responded to the e-mail by answering questions.