Children's Hospital Colorado

Penicillin Allergy Delabeling (S5:E6)

While more than 10% of patients in the U.S. have a penicillin allergy noted in their medical record, many of those patients are not actually allergic. They may have outgrown their penicillin allergy, or they experienced viral rash or non-immunological adverse reactions that were misidentified at the time.

Listen to pediatric experts discuss delabeling penicillin allergies

In this episode, Kirstin Carel, MD, joins us to discuss efforts to delabel patients who are incorrectly labeled as penicillin allergic.

Dr. Carel is part of our allergy and immunology team at Children’s Hospital Colorado and is Associate Professor of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

In this episode, our experts discuss:

  • The downsides of prescribing broad-spectrum antibiotics instead of penicillin
  • How the allergy and immunology team partnered with hospitalists to address penicillin delabeling in inpatient settings
  • Administering penicillin challenge tests as part of preoperative examinations
  • How primary care pediatricians can assess penicillin allergies and approach penicillin allergy delabeling in well visits

Treatment of allergies and immune disorders at Children’s Colorado

The Allergy and Immunology Center at Children’s Colorado is a national referral center and one of the largest of its kind, feature more food/drug challenge spaces and clinic rooms than any facility in the region. Our pediatric experts take a multidisciplinary approach to understand the causes of allergies and immune disorders and deliver better and more comprehensive care.

Refer a patient to Children’s Colorado.