Torres MJ Adkinson NF Caubet JC Khan DA Kidon MI Mendelson L Gomes ER Rerkpattanapipat T Zhang S Macy E 2019 All beta-lactam use is associated with a certain rate of adverse reactions. Many of these adverse reactions result in an allergy to the beta-lactam being entered into the patient's medical record. Unfortunately, only a small minority of these recorded allergies are clinically significant immunologically mediated drug hypersensitivity. An unconfirmed allergy to beta-lactams is a significant public health risk, because patients so labeled typically do not receive narrow-spectrum penicillins and cephalosporins when clinically indicated. The alternative antibiotics they receive result in poorer clinical outcomes, increased incidence of serious antibiotic-resistant infections, prolonged hospitalizations, and greater health care utilization. There is a wide variation in beta-lactam allergy incidence and prevalence around the world, based in part on the specific beta-lactams used and overused. There is a wide variation in specific protocols used to confirm current tolerance of beta-lactams and remove these inaccurate allergy reports. Harmonizing testing protocols, when possible, may lead to more widespread use of narrow-spectrum beta-lactams, when clinically indicated, and improve patient safety worldwide. Further research is needed to better understand the regional differences in reporting beta-lactam allergy as this relates to regional differences in beta-lactam use and overuse, the frequency of clinically significant immunologically mediated beta-lactam hypersensitivity, and the optimal testing strategies to confirm current tolerance, based on presenting clinical symptoms. https://sonar.ch/global/documents/46683 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.jaip.2018.07.051 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/30245291 The journal of allergy and clinical immunology. In practice. - 2019 Allergy Beta-lactam Cephalosporin Challenge Drug provocation test Hypersensitivity IgE Penicillin Severe cutaneous adverse reaction Skin test T cell Allergens Anti-Bacterial Agents Consensus Drug Hypersensitivity Humans Hypersensitivity, Immediate Immune Tolerance Patient Acceptance of Health Care Skin Tests beta-Lactams Controversies in Drug Allergy: Beta-Lactam Hypersensitivity Testing. http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501