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. 1986 Mar;144(3):311–314.

The Value of Skin Testing for Penicillin Allergy Diagnosis

Paul P VanArsdel Jr 1, Gregory J Martonick 1, Lowell E Johnson 1, Jay D Sprenger 1, Leonard C Altman 1, William R Henderson Jr 1
PMCID: PMC1306602  PMID: 3962293

Abstract

Skin testing is reliable and useful to rule out penicillin allergy in most patients who have a history of previous reactions. When we tested 291 inpatients in the University of Washington hospitals for the presence or absence of penicillin allergy, of 97 with a history of penicillin allergy, 12 (12.4%) had positive skin tests. Of 194 patients with no or an unknown history, only 4 (2%) had positive skin tests. Two of the 16 who had positive skin tests (12.5%) reacted only to minor determinant mixtures. Of the skin test-negative patients, 261 were treated with one of the penicillins and only two had any reactions.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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