Penicillin allergies can be caught with simple skin test

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Redondo Beach resident Cynthia Malouin takes a medication that makes her prone to infection, which causes her to take different types of antibiotics.

But shortly after taking a combination treatment that included penicillin, she got an allergic reaction.

"I was getting hives all over my body a few days after taking the antibiotics," she said.

One out of 10 Americans suffer from penicillin allergies. Cynthia's doctor figured she was one of those people and the possibility troubled her.

She decided to go see an allergist, Dr. Katie Marks Cogan, to find out for sure if she was allergic because patients with penicillin allergies have to be prescribed alternatives.

"This alternative may be more expensive. It may cause many more side effects. It may be less effective than penicillin, and it may lead to more antibiotic resistance," Cogan said. "So patients should take the right antibiotic for the right infection, and that's not always possible if they have a penicillin allergy."

When Mayo Clinic researchers studied about 400 people who said they were allergic to penicillin, it turned out about 94 percent of them did not have an allergy.

Cogan said people can find out with a simple test at an allergists office. It is a skin swab or prick test that shows results right away, and it helped to alleviate all of Malouin's concerns.

She is safe to use penicillin, and it is peace of mind she wants other patients to have.

When in doubt, doctors suggest taking the test. Besides hives, wheezing and closing of the airways, penicillin allergies can also cause anemia.