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Penicillin allergy might “signpost allergy to other drugs”, researchers from St George’s Hospital in London reported at the recent British Pharmacological Society meeting.

In a research study that included 136 in-patients aged, on average, 65 years, 90 per cent reported ever having taken penicillin, while 82 per cent reported taking penicillin at least twice.

The 16 per cent who reported penicillin allergy all appeared to be immune-mediated, with 86 per cent developing skin rashes and almost 14 per cent reporting anaphylaxis.

Overall, 32 per cent of patients experienced a total of 63 allergies. Penicillin allergy was the commonest, followed by NSAIDs (7 per cent) and painkillers (6 per cent).

The authors suggested that the “wide exposure may account for the high prevalence of reported penicillin allergy”. However, 46 per cent of people with penicillin allergy reported at least one other allergy compared to 18 per cent of those who did not report penicillin allergy.