{"id":246504,"date":"2026-05-20T11:40:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T15:40:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=246504"},"modified":"2026-05-20T12:13:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T16:13:30","slug":"think-youre-allergic-to-penicillin-you-may-want-to-think-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/05\/think-youre-allergic-to-penicillin-you-may-want-to-think-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Think You\u2019re Allergic to Penicillin? You May Want to Think Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many people have been told at some point in their lives that they are allergic to penicillin. But according to infectious disease experts at UConn Health<\/a>, most patients carrying that label may not actually have a true allergy at\u00a0all,\u00a0and that misunderstanding could have significant consequences for both individual patients and public health.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Woman
Jessica Abrantes-Figueiredo, MD, infectious disease physician at UConn Health. (Tina Encarnacion\/UConn Health photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s much more common for people to report a penicillin allergy than it is for them to truly have one,\u201d says\u00a0Dr.\u00a0Jessica\u00a0Abrantes-Figueiredo,\u00a0an infectious\u00a0disease physician at UConn Health. \u201cIn reality, less than 1% of patients are likely to have a true penicillin allergy.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Penicillin is a class of antibiotic medications. Penicillin treats\u00a0bacterial infections like strep throat, ear\u00a0infections,\u00a0and urinary tract infections. They work by attaching to and damaging the cell walls of bacteria. Types of penicillin include penicillin V, penicillin G,\u00a0amoxicillin,\u00a0and ampicillin.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Experts say many penicillin allergies are\u00a0identified\u00a0in childhood, often after a rash or illness that may have had nothing to do with the antibiotic itself.\u00a0Others are based on family history or side effects that are not actually allergic reactions.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the most common misconceptions is that if your parent had a penicillin allergy, you automatically have one too, and that\u2019s simply not true,\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Abrantes-Figueiredo\u00a0says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The issue is more important than many people realize.\u00a0When patients are labeled as allergic to penicillin, providers often\u00a0have to\u00a0avoid an entire class of antibiotics and turn instead to broader-spectrum medications.\u00a0Those alternatives can be less effective, more expensive, and carry greater risks of side effects.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPatients often think, \u2018If I\u2019m allergic, just give me something else,\u2019\u201d says\u00a0Dr.\u00a0David Banach,\u00a0an infectious\u00a0disease\u00a0physician\u00a0and hospital epidemiologist at UConn Health.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cBut those alternatives may not be the best treatment for the infection and can contribute to antibiotic resistance.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria adapt and become harder to\u00a0treat with\u00a0existing medications. It is a growing concern both nationally and globally. Infectious disease specialists emphasize the importance of antibiotic stewardship using antibiotics only when necessary and selecting the most targeted treatment possible.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Dr. David Banach, is UConn Health’s hospital epidemiologist. (Tina Encarnacion\/UConn Health)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Banach, who has helped lead antibiotic stewardship efforts at UConn Health, says the work ties directly into the issue of penicillin allergy labeling. Earlier this year, he discussed the growing importance of antibiotic stewardship and the dangers of antibiotic resistance in a separate UConn Today story<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we use antibiotics that are broader than needed, we can unintentionally encourage bacteria to become resistant,\u201d Banach says. \u201cGood antibiotic stewardship helps protect both the individual patient and public health.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to resistance concerns, alternative antibiotics can sometimes cause more serious complications. Certain medications may carry higher risks for side effects such as tendon injuries or Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) infections.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To help address the issue, UConn Health is developing a specialized clinical service focused on evaluating and potentially removing inaccurate penicillin allergy labels from patients\u2019 medical records.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The planned service would include detailed patient history reviews and, when\u00a0appropriate, supervised oral amoxicillin challenges performed in a monitored clinical setting. In many low-risk patients, newer research suggests testing can safely\u00a0determine\u00a0whether a patient truly has an allergy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, just taking a detailed history is enough to determine that a patient likely isn\u2019t allergic,\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Abrantes-Figueiredo\u00a0says. \u201cOther times, we can safely test patients and potentially remove that allergy label.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During an oral challenge, patients receive a small dose of amoxicillin and are closely\u00a0monitored\u00a0for any reaction before receiving the\u00a0remainder\u00a0of the medication. Severe reactions are considered extremely rare, and the testing is performed in a setting equipped to manage allergic responses if needed.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The effort also includes educating healthcare providers and staff on the difference between true allergies and medication intolerances.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of medical records simply\u00a0say\u00a0\u2018penicillin allergy\u2019 without any details,\u201d Banach says. \u201cImproving documentation and helping patients better understand their own histories is an important part of the process.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The team hopes the future service will help patients gain access to safer, more effective first-line antibiotics while supporting broader efforts to combat antibiotic resistance.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For now, experts encourage patients who believe they may have a penicillin allergy to speak with their primary care provider about their history and whether further evaluation may be\u00a0appropriate.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UConn Health experts are working to clear up the confusion around penicillin allergies\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":246511,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2672,179],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2209],"class_list":["post-246504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthcare-reimagined","category-uconn-health"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-28 06:00:12","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246504"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":246508,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246504\/revisions\/246508"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/246511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246504"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=246504"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=246504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}