OHIO — Lauren Altobelli is a busy mom of three. Luca is five-years-old, Owen is three-years-old and Ava is 10-months-old.
“I embrace the chaos,” she said.
When Altobelli was a toddler herself, she was told she was allergic to penicillin after receiving the antibiotic to treat a virus and breaking out in hives.
“I’ve kind of just gone by whole life assuming I was allergic to penicillin,” she said.
It was something she said she never questioned until she was pregnant with Ava.
“Because I was Strep B positive, and they were going to give me an antibiotic for the birth,” Altobelli said.
Her OBGYN recommended she get tested to find out if she actually is allergic when she was about 36 weeks pregnant.
The CDC estimates about 10% of all U.S. patients report a penicillin allergy, but less than 1% of the population is truly allergic.
“Very surprised to find out that I was not allergic and could have had it for any of my ailments, I guess growing up,” she said.
Dr. Margaret Kuder works in the Allergy and Clinical Immunology Department at the Cleveland Clinic.
She said she sees patients with stories like Altobelli all the time.
“Many times, they carry this label of allergy from childhood. In childhood, we find the most common cause of hives and rashes are actually viral infections themselves,” said Kuder. “So, they get an infection, they’re given amoxicillin or a penicillin type antibiotic, they have hives, and then they’re labeled as allergic to that antibiotic.”
Kuder said many of those who are truly allergic outgrow the intolerance. The CDC estimates approximately 80% of patients lose their sensitivity to penicillin after 10 years.
Kuder said she encourages anyone who believes they have a penicillin allergy to talk with their primary care physician about getting tested.
“We see these patients routinely in our allergy clinic and we hope to see more of them. We have a national governing body, the AAAAI, that puts out standard practice guidelines for all allergists and in 2018, they published a guideline that said all patients who are listed as penicillin allergic should get tested routinely. So, not when they’re sick and need penicillin, but before that,” she said.
Owen is allergic to eggs and peanuts, and Altobelli developed an intolerance to bananas as an adult. So, she is familiar with allergy testing.
“It was a very easy process,” said Altobelli.
Kuder said there are two types of skin tests. One examines the top layer of skin, and another involves an injection.
“Just looking for that mosquito bite-like reaction and if both of those are negative, it tells us with 99% certainty there’s no allergy present,” said Kuder.
Alternatives to penicillin are not the first choice for medical professionals for a variety of reasons. Broad-spectrum antibiotics can cause additional side effects.
Having an unnecessary penicillin allergy listed in your medical chart could lead to negative health outcomes, according to Kuder.
“There’s been studies that have associated having this listed in your chart with longer hospital stays, with more drug resistant infections. There was even one study that associated it with a higher mortality rate overall,” said Kuder.
Since Ava’s delivery in January, Altobelli has used penicillin to treat a sinus infection, and she had no issues. She said finding out she was not allergic to the drug was unexpected and valuable information.
“No longer, (but) 30-some years of thinking I was,” said Altobelli.
